LoveLive Fantasies: Book One: The Red Knight
by CleideJam
Summary: Year 20XX, Valhalla Zap, one of the countries that were able to survive the dark age is now lead by the Nishikino family. Peace and order were felt by every citizen and new laws have been implemented.However, will the current princess be able to inherit the throne?Follow Princess Maki and her friends as they face adulthood and enemies along with a touch of drama and romance.
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: I don't own Love Live and anything else mentioned that already has their respective owners.**

**A/N:Hello every LoveLiver who will read this FF. I'm just trying this out for now and if it did seem to be good then I'll continue this. Yes. It's Book One out of Three, that is if I continue the FF. I hope you'll like it. Read and Enjoy!**

* * *

**Love Live Fantasies:**

**Book One: The Red Knight**

**Chapter One: An Introduction Like No Other**

* * *

**Year 20XX, Valhalla Palace, Morning.**

Morning in the palace were always busy with maids, chefs and guards buzzing all around the place doing their duties respectively. Even ministers were always early to wake up and repeat their daily routine of looking over the country's wealth and welfare. Although their territory has finally grasped the ownership and knowledge for advanced technology, his majesty has never allowed any machine to take care of his country and his people,_ "By the end of the day, blood is still thicker than water…or metal in this case"_ is what his majesty would usually respond to his ministers.

Anyways, back to the usual happenings, outside of the palace the royal gardener has been busy digging holes for the newly grown plants for the new season. Even before the sun was able to light up the horizon, Koizumi Hanayo, Valhalla Zap's royal gardener, is already taking care of the flowers and plants around the entire palace. Soldiers, guards and even maids would always notice how hard working and passionate the young girl is with her work. And they would always shift their gaze towards the palace's special glass garden.

The garden was a gift by another royal family to the Nishikino's. The beautiful scenery offered by the small area would never cease to amaze the visitors in the palace. But this was not the main reason why the royal gardener took good care of the glass garden. Oh, how the maids would always eaves drop whenever the right-hand man of the Royal princess would come and visit the royal gardener…err… they mean whenever she would visit the glass garden and totally not the gardener. They would always watch from afar the romantic scene unfolding in front of them.

But the two would never admit their feelings not even to the royal family.

There was that one time when Princess Maki decided to visit the glass garden when she saw her childhood friend, the royal knight, was heading towards the area. But she was not expecting the nervousness that was mixed in one Hoshizora Rin's voice. For all the time they have been together, Maki was so sure that Rin's confidence would never waver, along with her nya's and to be able to find her stuttering just from a simple statement of, "Hey, do you know where the royal gardener is?" to say that the red-haired was amused would be a huge understatement.

And so, she decided to secretly follow her friend after Rin shook her head vigorously and headed towards the opposite direction. And the scene she found next was rather interesting than watching knights brawl one another.

The royal knight was busy hiding herself behind one of the fluffy bushes near the glass garden. Or rather, she was busy watching like a hawk over the other side of the glass garden, where the brunette gardener is busy tending to her beloved plants and flowers. The cool princess quietly left the area to be able to give her friend her much needed stalking.

Aside from the busy royal gardener, another figure to be easily noticed and remember outside of the palace is the royal chef who is picking up fresh fruits and vegetables from the palace's personal farm. Kousaka Honoka loves preparing different cuisines with the use of freshly picked and edible ingredients. The ginger-head is on her way of becoming the palace's head chef under the care of the current head chef, Mr. T.

Honoka, unlike the other royal chefs, did not come from any decent family or orphanage. She was found by the king along the roads of a country he once visited. The ginger-head tried stealing from the king's Prime Minister, Tojou Kuroki. Luckily, the gentle woman has a soft heart for little girls, since she always remembers her daughter on them, and did not even thought twice to punish little Honoka.

Instead, Kuroki decided to adopt the little thief since she feels lonely being away from her original home. The king respected her decision and instantly ordered his men to prepare a room for the little girl in the palace. The Prime Minister was so happy that day that she decided to hold a party for her new little girl. Maybe her own daughter would be happy to meet her someday.

To say that they Honoka is a good chef would be the greatest understatement of the year, according to the royal princess herself. Having found out how great of a cook Honoka actually is, the Prime Minister instantly put her under the wing of Mr. T. and the head chef's only statement after having tasted the little thief's cook was a simple, _"You have found a diamond in the making"_

Well, the princess grew fond of the royal chef like she's an older sister, although she is very childish and irresponsible to things that doesn't have any relations to food. Maki would always smile at the foolish sight of Honoka, and add some Rin in the equation and it would result to an infinite chaos that is until they got zero energy.

* * *

Back to the insides of the palace, his majesty has just taken his breakfast, in pure silence since the absence of her daughter brought loneliness to his first meal for the day. But the king knew that his only heiress is busy with the preparations for today's special event. The king could only sigh at what is about to happen later on and at how tiring the evening would be.

"Your majesty, aren't you supposed to go prepare for the evening? After all, visitors, allies and friends would be coming later and you have to greet them personally as well"

Nishikino Ryuki stared at his hard-working Prime Minister feeling somewhat constricted whenever the woman is around. He admired her passion but Kuroki was just so…straight-laced and stubborn! If only she would learn how to chill out as Rin would have worded. Fortunately, Honoka was there to bring some chill to the old woman's life, he might have said old but their ages aren't too far from each other.

"Right. Preparations. Speaking of preparations, how is Maki doing? Will she be fine for the upcoming coronation?"

The king could no longer hide his worry for his only daughter and heiress. If only her wife had not left them for another woman, he could have had a son that would be strong and be able to inherit his throne without him worrying his self out.

Not that her daughter is incapable, but the ways of the coronation is just so…brutal.

How he hated his great great grandfather for having had made an unbreakable law that would only allow an heir or heiress to formally inherit the throne after completing the three Royal Tasks. The first two tasks were simple and easy to accomplish for her daughter. Knowledge and talents are what Maki is made of if he has to say so himself. But her daughter was never the brute and strong type, so the king could only hope that Maki's 3 year stay on the other side of the world would actually give her the key to completing the tasks for the evening.

And his majesty hopes that the knights would go easy on his beloved and well-treasured daughter.

"That is something that we would all want to know, your majesty. The princess has not arrived yet from her long training on the other side," Kuroki bluntly said the obvious since it seemed like her king thought she has some kind of mind powers simply because she could somewhat predict the future in a tricky poem or stories.

"But don't worry. We both know just how much Princess Maki treasures this country and its citizens. That itself is an assurance that your daughter would not fail her tasks this evening, don't you think so too?"

That statement helped in easing the king's worries which is obviously visible on the way his wrinkled forehead slowly smoothens out. And her statement actually held truth since Kuroki had already seen a future where the Princess has acquired the throne although there was some kind of glitch. The princess did not become Valhalla Zap's queen, instead…

"Ah. I have to go and make sure the meals for the evening were prepared completely. If you may excuse me my majesty"

Watching his Prime Minister's retreating back, the king just hoped that her daughter would survive the evening without even a light bruise on her body.

"Damn that barbaric old geezer! I knew he was behind the sudden change of the coronation process. Arrr!" the king groaned as he made his way towards his room to prepare for the evening.

* * *

"Riiiin-chaaaannnnn!"

Having finished the preparations for tonight's coronation, Honoka was finally able to take some rest out of the steamy kitchen. And as soon as she had closed the doors of the kitchen room, the ginger-head quickly rushed towards the possible location of a certain short-haired, cat-like royal knight. And her experience has never failed her whenever it comes to searching for her friends.

She found Rin hiding behind the bushes outside of the glass garden.

Honoka had quietly and stealthily crawled towards her friend's hideout which somewhat surprised Rin.

"Honoka-chan, what are you doing here nya?"

The royal knight made sure to crouch lower to hide herself and whispered her question to the sudden appearance of the chef.

"We had just finished the preparations for the coronation tonight and I was wondering if you would like to wait outside of the palace for Maki-chan?"

Honoka whispered back, hoping that Rin would join her and leave her stalking business for tomorrow. But she saw Rin weighing the choices in her head.

"Ooh! I prepared a picnic box for the two us as we wait there"

Honoka knew that bribery is the only key as what Maki had always told her before. But Rin is still weighing her options. Seriously, the cat girl should just confess her feelings for the gardener. If it was Honoka on her shoe that is what she would definitely do! Because it is not every day that a person would fall in love and it is not every day that the person they love would also love them back, so why not take the opportunity and see how things go from there?

"I got that special instant ramen that can only be found on the other side, hehe"

Grinning like she had finally become the head chef, Kousaka Honoka knew that she had won her friend over.

"Ramen nya! Count Rin in nya!"

And without any more hesitation, Honoka found herself being led by Rin towards the palace gates.

They were not able to see the pout plastered on the blushing gardener's face as the two energetic girls made their way towards the gate.

* * *

"I wonder what Maki-chan looks like now, nya~ it has been three years since we last saw her. And the only thing she would send us were letters and souvenirs from the country she is currently in, nya!"

Rin had voiced out one of her daily questions while idly waiting for her instant ramen to be cooked, which would take a good five minutes. Ever since Maki learned that the only way to acquire the throne was to complete the three Royal Tasks, their friend had personally asked her father to send her on the other side to be able to become strong enough to complete the tasks.

"I'm wondering that myself too, Rin-chan! Although I'm sure Maki-chan would still be very beautiful and kind and playful! Mmmmm~! This bread is so tasty!"

Honoka's reply got Rin thinking more. What if their relationship with Maki is no longer like before? What if Maki found some new friends and decided to replace them? What if Maki finally found a lover?!

"Oh, Rin-chan. Maki-chan would never do those kind of things. Remember, Maki-chan is our friend and a friend of hers will also be a friend of ours. Besides, I'm sure Maki-chan is worrying the same things like that on her way here,"

Rin gaped at the words that Honoka had spoken. Has she not been able to control herself that she spoke her doubts without even realizing it? Or maybe Honoka is just some kind of psychic just like her adopted mother.

"Although I'm not sure if Maki-chan had found a lover since she is like a tsundere! Maki-chan's lover would have to be some kind of a tsundere as well to be able to grasp Maki-chan's tsundere tendencies. Oh. And I learned how to read mind through people's facial expressions so no I don't have any psychic powers. Hehe"

Honoka simply continued munching on her bread while Rin's jaw dropped as the cat girl watched her friend saying some wise stuff while happily eating a bread. Sometimes Rin wonder if Honoka is really stupid or intelligent.

Realizing that it was time for her to take some tasty and savory ramen, the orange-haired girl instantly removed the lid off of the cup and picked up the pair of chopsticks she got from a certain brunette gardener.

"_I just wish that nothing bad would happen this evening"_

* * *

Donning on his extravagant attire for the evening, the king is idly sitting on his throne and waiting for any news that would tell him that his daughter is finally on the way to the palace. But alas! Not even a single report has reached them since the time the princess has left the other side in their private plane. Fixing the collar of his newly tailored white tuxedo, Ryuki had looked at his wrist watch for the umpteenth time watching the second hand's movement.

"Ahh~ waiting eagerly with an empty stomach does not fit you my Lord. I'm sure the guests would laugh at the entertainment that is hearing your rumbling stomach"

Mr. T has opened the door to the palace's living room where the king's and queen's thrones are placed respectively. Behind him are two of the new male butlers strolling a tray of food and wine for their king. After paying their respects, Mr. T gazed at his majesty's face only to smile wryly at the paled face of the worrywart king. Not many have known but the king and Mr. T are childhood friends just like how Honoka and Maki are. This is another reason why Mr. T would often visit his king since he knows just how much of a wimp and a worrywart Ryuki actually is.

"Ugh…Taro…stop with the jokes, please. I think I can no longer bear to idly wait here for my daughter's arrival. I knew I should have not sent her on the other side. What if those assassins were already after her? If only I could devoid the law for the Royal Tasks"

Squinting his eyes as he stared his friend down, Mr. T never liked it when Ryuki uses his real name. Who in their right mind would even want the name Taro? He really hates it and wanted to replace it with something more fancy and good for the ear. But no. changing it will never change the fact that ninety-five percent of their country already knew his real name. It was all Ryuki's fault for advertising his secret powdered recipe entitling it, "Taro's Magical Powder" the head chef remembered how he became the laughing matter of the entire palace. Even Kuroki could not keep herself from laughing during that time.

"Oh, Ryuki. You don't have to worry about little Maki-chan! Just look at you!"

Mr. T dramatically pointed his hand towards the king's direction and this cause not just Ryuki to look at him but also the two butlers. Raising a slender eyebrow, his majesty wondered what his friend is referring to.

"Me?"

"Yes! You were able to complete the three Royal Tasks and acquired the throne. That is why I am very sure Maki-chan would be able to do so as well. So don't worry"

The king grinned at how his friend tried to cheer him up by boosting his ego. Taro truly knew just how he could bring a smile onto his friend's face.

"Ehehe. Taro, I already know how great I am at that time so you don-"

"Huh? I never said that you were great at that time, Ryuki. You were so weak and so thin when you took the Royal Tasks but was still able to completely annihilate a battalion of our soldiers. That is why I am very sure that Maki-chan would be able to do it without even breaking a sweat"

"That actually hurts, you know"

The king wiped away an invisible tear from his left eye and sniffing his sorrows away. Sometimes the head chef is just so blunt and direct with his words. This was one of the reasons only a few of his apprentices could complete his training routine. He would either break them through the tasks he gives them or through the cruel words he would shout at them. And yes, Honoka experienced the same treatment since Taro does not like favoritism.

"You know I was just joking, Ryuki"

"The 'I'm so weak part or the Maki would complete the tasks part'? If you don't answer me truthfully I'll make sure to bring Maki into the kitchen"

"Oh dear God! No! Please NO! Your daughter is a walking disaster once she enters the kitchen room!"

The head chef clutched his head in terror and horrifying memories brought back by the simple threat the king had mentioned. It was long time ago when Maki was still at her teenage years. The red-haired princess wanted to bake some cookies for a special visitor at that time that is why she seek help from the head chef himself.

And since Maki's mother was a well-known cook in their country, Taro-san did not expect the disaster that surprised him and caused the explosion within his beloved kitchen. Who would have known that Maki inherited her father's incapability inside the kitchen? Until now, the head chef himself wondered what happened to that special guest who ate Maki's… err… cookies. He then remembered the other reason why had visited his friend.

"Speaking of Princess Maki. I think it is time for you to pass down the family heirloom to her before the coronation begins. That way her success in the three Royal Tasks would be secured"

Hearing the phrase 'family heirloom', the king's dark grey eyes instantly got sharp and his aura got serious. Wincing at the sudden sight of his friend, Taro mentally slapped himself for conveying bluntly. The butlers as well jerked at the powerful and deadly emitted by their majesty.

"I understand where you are coming from, Taro. But decisions like that are not to be touched by someone outside of the family"

Taro smiled wryly at his friend, although that is what he said he knew that Ryuki is just having a very hard time handling emotional subjects concerning their family. After all, when his friend inherited the family heirloom, Ryuki almost got killed just having to control it. Since that day, Mr. T swore to never step on his friend's bad side.

"I understand. Forgive me for my rudeness, my Lord"

* * *

The two most energetic member of the palace were still waiting for the arrival of their childhood friend who has been gone for three years straight. However, unlike before where the two girls were so full of energy, right at that moment, Rin and Honoka were already nearing their limit as they patiently wait for the red-headed princess. Even the picnic box Honoka brought was now emptied and shut close.

"Haah… I wonder when Maki-chan is coming nya!"

"I want more bread, Rin-chan!"

"Honoka-chan, you'll become a cow if you eat lots of bread nya!"

Rin smiled wryly as she stared at her friend's dejected face when she heard just how dangerous breads are. Shifting her gaze back to the front gates, the royal knight failed to see anything that would signal their friend's arrival.

"Ne, Rin-chan. Why don't you confess to Hanayo-chan already?"

Rin did not expect the sudden question thrown her way since Honoka was never one to tackle such issues. It would always be Maki to ask such questions after all. Although she already has an answer, Rin still acted as if she is thinking over what Honoka had asked.

"You know, Maki-chan would be really angry when she finds out that after all these years Rin-chan still has not confessed to Hanayo-chan. I'm sure she'll be fuming and look just as red as the tomatoes she loves to eat"

Rin and Honoka grinned at the memory of a five year old Maki fuming while eating her favorite tomatoes.

"But it's not that easy, Honoka-chan nya! Falling in love is one thing but confessing is a total different matter!"

The short-haired royal knight defends herself as she throws her arms everywhere looking red and flustered. The ginger-haired chef could only smile at the embarrassed look of her usually energetic friend.

"You have not even fallen in love before, Honoka-chan. So you don't have a clue of what I'm experiencing. Mou!"

Rin pouted her lips to obviously tell Honoka that she is not liking their current topic for conversation. Honoka figured this out and rubbed the back of her neck sheepishly. Rin was not wrong though since she had never really experience falling in love with someone. All her life Honoka has dedicated her life to her training, her adopted mother and her childhood friends.

"Let's just talk about Maki-chan then! What do you think Maki-chan's lover would be like?"

"Hmm…Maki-chan's lover, nya? I'm sure she'll be small. Definitely small. After all Maki-chan always got attracted to small and cute things nya!"

The two giggled at that revelation. Even though Maki tried her best to hide her preferences, Honoka and Rin already figured out since their friend is so obvious. Maki-chan when she first met the royal gardener, who looked timid and small and cute at the age of twelve, was the princess' first crush. However, when puberty hit Hanayo-chan, Maki no longer showed admiration towards her.

"Luckily Maki-chan is no longer Rin's rival nya!"

"Yep. Yep. I got so scared at that time since I don't know what to do whenever you and Maki-chan would argue who is better for Hanayo-chan. Geez. Love makes people crazy, huh?"

"I wonder if Maki-chan would also go crazy over the one she loves nya?"

The two tried to imagine a moment where Maki would be falling head over heels for a certain person who is small and cute and whatever Maki likes. They were laughing so hard that they did not notice the figure hovering over them.

"_And why would I go crazy over something so stupid?"_

* * *

Recently, the palace hired some much needed maids just a month before the designated return of the princess. Since the only maids left were the older and most loyal ones, the head maid had requested some additional members to her king. Mrs. Marie knew that she could handle things around the palace with just her and the remaining twenty-one maids of the Nishikino's. However, with the upcoming coronation which would obviously have hundreds of guests coming from different parts of the world, the old woman don't think that she and her crew would be able to handle them.

Fortunately at that month, lots of unemployed young women coming from poor families were eagerly looking for jobs that would ensure a three-times-a-day meal in their household. The interviews held were led by the Prime Minister and the head maid herself. After all, Mrs. Marie would never let any indecent girl to represent the Nishikino's group of maids. Being meticulous about their decisions, out of the three hundred women whose age range from fifteen to thirty, only fifty were selected.

And one of these fifty women is the dark-haired, twin-tailed, petite teenage girl that goes by the name Yazawa Nico. Nico never actually dreamt of becoming a maid for the royal family since her long-time dream is way too far from this. But due to some personal reasons regarding her family, Nico has to stop college and find a decent job to help her mother and her family. Seeing her single mom working day and night just to be able to sustain her and her three other siblings, Nico's heart was broken. She was left with the only choice of getting a decent job with a reasonable wage which she'll use to feed her mother and siblings. And if she'll be able to save a part of those monthly payment, she would keep them for the time she decided to return to college.

Luckily, one of her friends heard that the royal family are in need of maids in preparation for the coronation of the Nishikino heiress. And Nico does not need any more push to jump at the opportunity of serving the royal family. After all, being chosen and hired as a royal maid have lots of medical and financial benefits. Not just for her but for her family as well.

But one thing Nico did not expect during the interviews were the weird questions asked by the head maid, Mrs. Marie. Nico swore she had never imagined that an old woman like Mrs. Marie would be able to speak of such scandalous and crazy questions. She almost fainted from all of the embarrassment she had to endure just to get a slot of being a royal maid. Hopefully, the prime Minister was there to ease her nerves during the interview.

"Base from the resume we have of you, Ms. Yazawa. You had discontinued college just recently. And why is that?"

That was the first question the head maid had spoken of which to Nico relief has seemed somewhat reasonable. Gripping the hem of her skirt, Nico was prepared to answer her in an instant.

"Well, I-"

"You are not planning to do something unimaginable once you enter the palace, are you?"

The sudden closeness of the head maid's face to hers surprised Nico making her jerk from her position. Luckily she was able to stop herself from jumping out of her seat.

"No! I-I mean no. I don't have any motive like that. All I wanted is to get the job"

"I see. Next question then. Why apply for a job just now? I clearly read that this is your first attempt for a job interview? You are not planning to do some conspiracy once you've entered the palace right? Wait! Maybe you heard that this has something to do with Princess Maki's return and you jumped at the opportunity of seducing her!"

"No, ma'am! I-I have no such plans of seducing the princess!"

"OH… do you think I would believe that?! YOU!"

Feeling the pressure that Mrs. Marie's pointer finger has on her, who would have thought that the royal family keeps such an overly-protective granny. She looked at the Prime Minister who is calmly sipping her tea throughout the ruckus that is the head maid.

"Mrs. Marie, I just want to have a job. That's all. No more. No less"

"Hmph! Like I'll believe someone like you. Did you know that the first women we interviewed before you were all focused on one objective after getting the job? That is to seduce poor Princess Maki! Those women have no shame! Requesting items that belong to the princess. How rude of them"

Nico decided to simply nod at every rant the old woman is saying. She would simply wipe away the spitted saliva from her face once she got out of the room. But thinking about it, why would those girls even want something from the princess? Are they really planning to steal things the princess owned? And why would they even tell that to the head maid and in the presence of the prime minister as well! Those things are to be kept as secrets, right?

And dear heavens, why would they seduce the princess. From what she heard the princess is clearly a 'SHE' and maids are all 'SHE', was the princess really that charming to be able to have even girls wanting her? Also, the princess is two years younger which clearly implies that Nishikino Maki is just an eighteen year old girl once she inherited the throne. And she has no plans for falling in love with someone. After all, Idols are for everyone.

"And do you know what kind of things they are asking for?!"

At this moment, Nico knew that she has nothing left to do but to surrender to the wrath of an old lady.

"What kind of things are they asking for, Mrs. Marie?"

However, when Nico said her reply, she noticed that the old woman before her pause for a second. It was just for a short moment but she clearly saw that the old woman stared at her for a second. But the old woman continued as if nothing happened.

"Those shameful girls were asking for the royal princess' used underwear! Used towels, clothes, spoons and forks and even princess Maki's baby pictures! As long as they were used and belonged to the princess they wanted it eagerly! Shameless I tell you!"

Smirking at that information, Nico is left in disgust and wonder just how desperate those girls are to get under the princess' pants…or skirt. To tell the truth even if Nico was older than the princess, she had never seen what the girl is like. She simply heard news of her good deeds for the country and her endlessly seeming talents. Another reason why Nico thought she truly deserved to get the job. She is as innocent as a newborn baby!

"Now, Mrs. Marie. I think it is time for you to calm down. I think Yazawa-san has heard enough"

Nico thanked the Prime Minister and the Gods above that finally the old woman was stopped from her rumbling.

"Umm…are there any other questions you would like to ask? Mrs. Marie? Prime Minister?"

"No. that would be all, Yazawa-san. We'll just call to inform you if you were chosen or not"

"I'll be excusing myself then"

Nico properly stood from her seat and bowed her head towards the two high-ranking women in society. She just hoped that she nailed the interview. Nailed it in any possible way.

She just hoped that being clueless about the princess' identity actually helped her in getting the job.

But when Nico finally met…or more like saw the princess in person, she wished she had research on her at some point before working in the palace. She was never told of just how pretty the princess actually is. She was never told of how elegant her stature looks like, how attractive her features are and just how loving her voice is.

Princess Maki Nishikino, soon-to-be ruler of Valhalla Zap, is standing five meters away from her in an outfit not fitting her true beauty. Her shiny red tresses were tied at the back of her head by a dark thin ribbon. A dark blue cloak is protecting her and her tattered clothes accompanied by a pair of overly-used boots.

Nico thought the princess had no sense of fashion and creativity but she quickly dismissed the idea once she saw just how hypnotizing those pair of lavenders are.

And Yazawa Nico never knew that she would experience love at first sight within the palace grounds.

***End of Chapter One***

* * *

**A/N: So...? Like it? Hate it? Want to read more of it? Reviews are always welcome since it will decide whether I'll continue this or not. Yeah...sorry if the pairings are the usual ones but I just really love them. Until then fellow LoveLivers!**


	2. Chapter 2

**Love Live Fantasies:**

**Book One: The Red Knight**

**Chapter 2: Not What You Expected**

* * *

Even before her departure, the princess of Valhalla Zap has already been practicing the words she would say once she meet her friends back at home. She knew she had to do lots of explanation due to the fact she had totally cut-off any form of communications with them. She just hopes that all those souvenirs she sent would help her in being forgiven. She had perfectly written a hundred word essay of apology and even asked her roommate to correct her if something was wrong.

"You know, apologizing does not mean writing an essay with lots of words. I'm sure those two would forgive you in a heartbeat"

Maki could only smile back at her roommate's, also cousin, statement. Of course she knew that. She knew how kind, forgiving and understanding Honoka and Rin are but not giving them a proper apology just does not feel right for the princess. The three of them had been through thick and thin even when they were still kids. Maki respects the two of them even though they always act like a pair of idiots.

"But!"

"Maki, listen. I've met Honoka and Rin before and knowing them from way back, those two would even plunged their bodies towards you for a warm and welcoming embrace"

This cousin of hers really knew just how to ease and cheer up someone. Maki had hoped that she had somehow inherited even a tiny bit of her cousin's honesty. She had always admired her older cousin, the next heir of the dojo she had stayed in for three years. Her uncle and aunt were very welcoming even in day one. They had even helped her and her companion during the incident outside of the Southern Pearls.

"Yeah. Those two are just too clingy even when they're angry. Geez"

"And you love them for that, right?"

She could not have any reply to that since her cousin is actually right. Maybe being honest for a while wouldn't hurt her. She smiled at her cousin.

"Yeah. I do"

The princess' cousin silently watched as Maki's face was suddenly invaded by a dark shade of red. She could not help herself from chuckling at the cute and adorable sight of her cousin. Ahh. Only she would know how much she would miss having a roommate and someone to talk to in the nights. Only she would know how much she wanted to visit the other side as well. If only her duties could be left behind for even a minute.

_Knock! Knock!_

"Maki-hime, our ride for Valhalla Zap is already waiting outside. Tsubasa-dono is also already waiting inside the plane. That is all"

The two occupants of the room waited until the sounds of walking footsteps faded in the background. The red-haired princess looked solemnly at her cousin. She knew her cousin well. Always being responsible and working by the rules of the book, she knew how much her cousin is sacrificing for the sake of her family's name.

"Guess it's time for me to go?"

"Y-Yeah. I hope everything goes well with Tsubasa"

"Don't worry, I'll explain it to them. I'm sure Tojou-san would be able to help her. Umm… here"

Maki stopped in front of her cousin and held out her right hand. She smirked at the dumbfounded look of the older girl knowing she was totally clueless.

"This is something to commemorate this meeting. I wished you would have been there while I take the three royal tasks but duty first, right?"

"Maki, I'm sorry. I… you know…"

"Nah. Don't sweat it. Just wait until you heard the news tomorrow morning: Nishikino Maki, new ruler of Valhalla Zap"

The two laughed at the weird joke of the red-haired girl. They both knew that being able to do a joke does not run in the family after all. They had silently agreed that only the likes of Honoka and Rin would be able to do that. After making sure that her cousin had secured the gift she gave on her hand, Maki picked up her shoulder bag and walked towards the door.

Her cousin, on the other hand, was left surprised when she saw the gift handed to her by her favorite cousin. Who knew Maki could be sentimental.

"Maki, thanks for the gift. Oh, and I'm sure I don't need the news to know that. After all, you have undertaken intense training in our dojo! You better pass those tasks!"

"Geez, Umi. Cut me some slack! Until we meet then"

"Yeah. Until next time"

With their light farewell, Maki had walked out of the room she had stayed for the three years she had left her palace. She bit her lip hard trying to push back the tears that were trying to escape from the lids of her eyes. Looking outside of the window, she saw the plane she would be boarding. She hoped nothing bad would occur during their travel.

* * *

"_And why would I go crazy over something so stupid?"_

Well, the hundred word essay of apology she wrote was quickly thrown out of the window when Maki could no longer hold her temper at the topic which her two best friends were currently conversing on. What were Honoka and Rin even thinking?! Maki didn't come to the other side just to look for someone to love. She has been training. Hard. The princess could only sigh as those nights of practice saying her essay went to the trashcan. Well in an imaginary trashcan.

However, the surprised and ecstatic looks upon her friends' faces had eased the annoyance Maki felt that time. And without even a second passing, Rin and Honoka quickly threw their bodies towards the redhead. Lucky for them, Maki was prepared for those type of assaults.

"Maaaakiiii-chaaaan!"

"Maki-chan nya~!"

As soon as they had the princess within their grasps, Rin and Honoka instantly indulge themselves with the presence of the red-haired girl. They had missed how soft and warm Maki is. They had also missed the sweet scent of her perfume, lavender. And they felt at ease realizing that they have not forgotten the citrusy scent of Maki's shampoo.

However, something does not feel quite right for the two energetic girls. They instantly removed themselves from the embrace and checked up on the princess. Maki felt intimidated at the predatory looks of her friends. _"Had they noticed it? W-what if they found out?!"_

"Maki-chan, something seems to be different with you"

"Yea. There is definitely something different with Maki-chan nya!"

"There is? I-I don't know what you're saying"

The two kept on checking up on their friend but knowing the two of them they instantly gave up on what they were suspecting, thinking that it must have been because of Maki's training on the other side. Maki mentally heaved a sigh of relieve when Honoka and Rin turned around to lead Maki inside the palace.

"Umm. You guys go first. I need to report my arrival to the guards"

"Hmm…okay! Race you there, Rin-chan!"

"Wah! That's unfair, Honoka-chan nya!"

Lavender orbs watched on as the pair of idiots raced themselves to the palace. Sometimes Maki wonder where in the world Honoka and Rin could get that much energy.

When the two were finally out of sight, Maki had brought down all of her defenses, lifting the dark-blue cloak and checking up on her wound.

"Ugh… I just hope I could make it back to my room without anyone noticing…"

The princess cringed at the sight of her tattered clothes and bloody shirt. The ambush was something they have not expected. For some reason though, they managed to obliterate those assassins without any of them getting injured. Not the same could be said to Maki's case though. However the injury didn't come from the ambush but from the sudden surge of pain she felt while returning to their rendezvous point.

Limping her way towards the secret pathway heading to her own room, Maki once again felt the pain but now it's in her head. She gritted her teeth and tightly clenched her jaw in hopes of easing the throbbing pain. What in the world was happening to her? Maki does not know. She just really, really hoped that no one would be able to see her in her current condition or the ceremony would be postponed.

* * *

The raven-haired girl who never lost her sight on the red-haired princess silently watched on as the princess began walking towards a different direction from where her two friends were heading. Nico wondered what the princess was doing. She raised her brow when she realized that the princess' movements were kind of odd. She was swaying all over the place. The way she is walking was also weird. Nico silently followed the red-haired girl being intrigued by Maki's actions. However, when she saw the trail of blood on the pathway, Nico knew something is definitely wrong.

_THUD._

Raising her gaze at the sound, the dark-haired maid quickly ran towards the fallen figure. Pushing away the stray red hair on Maki's face, Nico tried to check what could be wrong. The princess' breathing is ragged. Her temperature is quite high and her stomach would not stop from bleeding.

"W-What's going on…."

This was the first time Nico encountered something horrifying as the situation she was currently in. This was not in her job description after all. The cold hand that took hold of Nico's left cheek had snapped her out of her shocked state.

"D-Don't t-tell anyone, please…"

Seeing the pitiful state of a member of the royal family, Nico was left in a dilemma.

* * *

AFTERNOON, THRONE ROOM.

"WHAT IN THE WORLD HAPPENED TO MY DAUGHTER!?"

The angry voice of the man holding the highest position in Valhalla Zap could be heard even outside of the throne room. His tightened jaw barely signifies how much he is holding his anger at the moment. The head of the royal guards sent for princess Maki's arrival tried his best not to faint in front of his beloved king as he was placed on the receiving end of the king's anger.

"ANSWER ME!"

"M-my K-king…"

The poor head of the royal guards could no longer take the fearful aura emitted by his angry king which left him kneeling on the grounds. He no longer cared how shameful he might look in front of the Prime Minister and the maid who found the princess. Lowering his body until his head met the floor, the man shamefully degraded himself and asked forgiveness from his majesty.

"Forgive me my Lord. It is my fault for being too confident that we would be reaching the palace gates without any problems once we made it into our territory. I shall accept all form of punishments to be bestowed."

Seeing the shaking figure of his man, the king knew he shouldn't blame him or anyone. They were all clueless of the oncoming ambush that happened earlier. He also heard that no one else got injured even after the ambush thinking that the assassins decided to retreat being outnumbered by the royal guards and soldiers.

But they were surprised to see the wounded and bleeding figure of their princess. They had all decided to take refuge in a small tent prepared by the medics of their team. They rest for a while but was surprised to find out that the princess escaped from her bed.

"You better be, General Kraust. You better be."

The king's voice was filled with anger, hatred, annoyance and anything else that would symbolize the bitter feeling he is having at that moment. The current occupiers of the throne room who were already familiar with this dark side of the king could only feel pity for the royal guard. Once the king decided he will give punishment while in that kind of condition, the punishments he will give will surely lead to his possible mental breakdown or even death.

The only person who does not have a single clue of what was to come later on stood there on the side of the room watching as the general continued to bow on the ground with his shaking body. Yazawa Nico was shocked to see the usually calm and funny king looking so scary as if he is ready to murder everyone in the room. The raven-haired girl shifted her gaze to the Prime Minister hoping that she would somehow calm the king down.

But Tojou-san simply stood there, not even moving an inch. She was staring at the poor general with a passive look in her turquoise eyes.

"_Now I feel guilty for having told the king about the princess"_

Nico guiltily bit her lip knowing that she was at fault for the general's punishment. She just hoped that those would be just light punishments. She could feel her fingers going numb as the image of the frail and bleeding princess on her arms flashed through her mind once again. She felt another rush of dreadfulness at the memory of the princess' last words for her.

She had totally disobeyed the princess' orders. But at least now she knew why the red-haired girl wanted to keep her condition as a secret. She knew what his father is capable of doing after all. and even though she was already hurt and nearing death with how much blood she was losing at that time, princess Maki still chose to consider what would happen to her people and put them in priority.

This information had somehow brought another wave of butterflies in the little girl's stomach.

"_No good! No good! No good!"_

Shaking her head at that realization, Nico found Tojou-san staring at her once she opened her eyes. The older woman was clearly trying to read her mind and Nico could only shudder once the Prime Minister found out her true feelings.

And as sure as she had thought, Tojou-san was already writhing in pain obviously trying her best to hide her laughter of what she had learnt from the poor little maid.

"_Damn that old woman and her mind-reading capabilities! Hmph! Luckily, Honoka didn't inherit them"_

Nico was just about to pull her tongue out towards the old woman's direction but halted when they all heard a knock from the throne room's door.

"Who's there?! Can't you read the sign outside?! We are-"

Even before the king could end his statement, the doors of the throne room opened widely. Two figures walked inside of the room. One was walking limply while the other figure assist the former. Everyone in the throne room were shocked to recognize the figures of their princess and a member of the noble family.

"M-Maki? W-what are you doing here? You're still injured! You can't be here. And Tsubasa. Why did you bring her in here? You kno-"

"Father…"

The poor and damaged princess removed herself from her companion's hold and even though it was visibly painful with every gasps and wheezes she made, Maki slowly made her way towards the general who was staring at her, shocked and unbelieving. Every person in the throne room watched on, stunned at the sudden arrival of the princess save for Tsubasa who simply watched Maki reached her hand out to the old general.

"This man here,"

Maki paused and knelt down painfully beside the general's figure. She wrapped her left arm over the general's shoulders then looked up at the waiting king.

"Kraust-san has nothing to do with what had happened to me"

"But Maki! Who should I blame for what had happened to you? You almost died! This country almost lost an heiress!"

Something within her snapped.

Maki knew that she is about to lose herself once again. She just cannot help herself from getting remorseful at the realization that the only reason she is cared for is because she is the only person who could directly inherit the throne of the beloved king. She wants to believe that everyone around her likes her for who she is but whenever her dear father would point out being the 'only heiress' of their country, Maki's trust would easily crumble down.

King Ryuki looked surprised as well at what has just escaped his mouth. All of the other figures present in the throne room also looked surprised at their king's words. The members of the cabinet, the soldiers guarding the throne room, the only maid there and even Tsubasa herself. They all looked at the king with wide eyes. They never thought that Ryuki would actually tell that right in front of his own daughter.

The only one looking at the hurt princess at that moment was the Prime Minister. Tojou-san barely missed the glistening of those purple orbs. She barely missed the deep gulp that the princess took as if she is swallowing every pain, every word she wanted to say.

But Maki looked away for a moment, leaving that memory in a corner and never planning to get it back.

"You don't understand, father. This wound…"

When Maki paused to lift her night shirt, Nico heaved a sigh seeing that it was already wrapped with bandages. Red-tainted bandages.

"I didn't get it from the ambush. I am the cause of this wound."

"What do you mean?"

"I-I don't know why or how but when I was about to meet everyone at our rendezvous point something happened."

Maki closed her eyes shut, trying everything to get back the memories, the events that occurred just after the assassins left. But all she could get was another rush of pain. Not just in her head but within her entire body. She tried standing up and almost fell down when the general quickly helped her out.

The king and everyone instantly rushed towards the princess.

"T-This pain… I d-don't know but this p-pain is the cause of it all…"

"Maki…"

The king stared at his daughter's pitiful figure. Maki is obviously trying her best not to worry everyone in the throne room. She is just simply covering most of the pain by trying to move her body around as if the pain is not that bad. But the moment a gush of blood ran out of the side of her mouth, princess Maki lost her consciousness once more.

"Maki? Maki?! Maki! Quick! Bring her to the clinic and call the doctors!"

Everyone instantly moved at the roaring order of their king.

The only maid present there to witness everything was left stunned on where she was standing. She could not fathom what was going on. One moment the king was lecturing the general then the next moment everyone was panicking trying to save the heiress' life. Nico wondered though, was the princess always sick? Was she always that frail? If she was then why did she decide to train on the other side of the world?

"W-what the heck…."

* * *

The event that was supposed to be held at night in the royal palace was instantly cancelled. The king had sent his men to formally inform his guests of what had happened, save for the princess' case. Everyone inside of the palace were surprised at the king's announcement of cancelling the preparations for the royal tasks. Everyone was left wondering and confused as to why and only a few knew of that reason, only those who were inside the throne room earlier.

As of the moment, the princess is still being checked on by the royal medics while the king and the prime minister were just outside of Maki's room, waiting for a doctor to come out and tell them of what had happened to their princess. Tojou-san had strictly ordered to not let anyone inside of the clinic, keeping things in private is one way of dealing with rumors.

"DAMN!"

The wall of the clinic shook after being punched by Ryuki, who is evidently holding his anger down and mercilessly blaming himself for what has happened to Maki. He could not blame anyone or even point a finger to what has caused her daughter's pain. Maki is obviously dying from something they don't have a single clue of what it is!

The Prime Minister approached her friend preparing to give some comfort to their king. After all, Kuroki is also a parent, she knew how painful it is to see their own child in pain. Just seeing Honoka scraping her knee before already tore her heart then how about her friend who is witnessing his only daughter, his only child being in pain without any reason. Maki's body is obviously killing her inside.

"My king, please don't hurt yourself. You would just worry the princess more once she gets out of there"

"Kuroki… tell me, have I been a bad father to my daughter? Did I miss anything when she was still here? I-I don't know what's happening to my own daughter! I am such a failure! I'm such a failure…"

The king could only cry the hurt he is feeling for her daughter's condition. He knew it can't be some kind of disease since Maki grew being a healthy kid. And it can't be something the assassins would do since Maki told him herself it was not because of them.

Suddenly, the doors of the clinic room opened and one of their doctors walked out while removing his face mask. Ryuki quickly approached the doctor who was obviously looking for them.

"How's my daughter?"

With his hands still shaking and cold, the king tightly grabbed the doctor's shoulders. His hold was so tight like it was Maki's life he is holding onto. Earlier, Ryuki had tried everything to prepare himself for what was about to happen, to be said by the doctor.

But the grim look on the doctor's face was not one of them.

"We need to talk in private"

His hands fell limply on his sides knowing full well that he is about to hear the bad news from the doctor. His dark gray eyes shifted to the sides, staring at nothingness, trying to figure out where it had all gone wrong. Ryuki could no longer understand. They started the day filled with happy vibes and full of energy. The entire palace was bustling with the excitement everyone was feeling at the arrival of their soon-to-be ruler but then THIS happened.

"We understand, Minami-sensei. Please follow us to the king's study room"

The prime minister said. She took the role of talking to the doctor knowing full well that her king is not in the right state of mind. Ryuki is obviously breaking down inside. What could the doctor be telling them once they reached the office?

* * *

From the energetic and giddy feeling that morning, the aura that now surrounds the palace took a sudden three-hundred sixty degree turn. Not all may have known what exactly happened but they heard news that it has something to do with their princess' health. The maids and even the guards were all talking about it. The entire palace had clearly heard the loud and angry voice of King Ryuki which had surprised all of them.

After all, it would take a lot to bring the usually calm and collected king into a state of pure anger.

And when the head maid, Mrs. Maria suddenly asked everyone available to prepare a room in the clinic and instantly call for a doctor, they all knew something is wrong.

"Tell me, what's happening to my daughter?"

Ryuki could no longer take the agony, the suspense and decided to straightforwardly go to that topic.

"The princess' life is not in danger"

"W-what?"

"I said your daughter's life is-"

Dr. Minami was surprised when the man in front of him roughly reached for the collar of his white coat. Tojou-san was also surprise to see this side of the king.

"Are you trying to pull a joke here, Minami-sensei? How can you tell that my daughter is all fine when she is clearly suffering! What's that? Some kind of a live show?! Magic!?"

"But that is the truth, Ryuki-sama. Maki-"

Once again, Ryuki pushed the doctor backwards seeming more aggressive than before. The prime minister decided to pull the king away at that moment, knowing very well that Ryuki was not taking everything properly.

"Ryuki… please calm down…"

"Ryuki-sama…"

The royal king let himself fall on one his sofa and felt ashamed of losing control of himself.

"I'm sorry… please just tell me exactly what is going on…."

The king uttered slowly with his voice shaking along with his nervousness. Anyone who was there to witness the event that occurred in the throne room would easily get the gist that Maki was not fine. She was bleeding everywhere for goodness' sake! And now this doctor who had drowned himself in researches and excavation would calmly tell him that her daughter is fine?

Absurd!

The king and the prime minister shifted their gazes toward the doctor who threw a couple of photos onto the table. The photos looked like a red colored tribal tattoo. The tattoo even looked familiar to the king.

"My king, Tojou-san, have you heard the story of the valiant red knight, Pile-sama?"

* * *

A/N: Okay guys. I just want to thank you all for reading, reviewing and following this story. I've read some really funny reviews and some which gotten my interest and muse running. I hope you like this chapter and would continue following the story. Sorry for all the Maki fans out there but a writer gotta do what he or she has to do.

Please do forgive me for my late update. Updates would be unpredictable since I'm in a busy stage of my university life but I would continue writing this. Also, I wanted the output of every chapter to be something I had written without rushing because well the story is kind of deep. Especially in the following chapters.


	3. Chapter 3

A/N: Well, hello there, readers. I'm glad you've been following the story and got interested in this one but it seemed that some had thought that Kotori and Nozomi are already introduced. I just want to clear up that the Tojou-san and Minami-sensei from the previous chapter and in this chapter are not Kotori and Nozomi. They are their parents which I made up for the purpose of this FF. That is all. Thank you for those who had reviewed, both the funny ones and complementing ones, and faved and followed. I'm really happy it had eased my stressed out life. I hope you'll like this chapter everyone!

* * *

**Love Live Fantasies**

**Book One: The Red Knight**

**Chapter 03: Are You the Sky?**

* * *

There was an unforgettable event that was told by the previous ancestors. It foretold the prophecy which tells the arrival of an entity bearing the soul of the greatest evil to appear on Earth. This entity was not identified but was sure to bring mayhem, apocalypse, chaos to the entire humanity. But no one believed the prophecy since it came from a young girl who was only a helper in an old and abandoned shrine.

So, when the prophecy came true, everyone doesn't have a single idea of what they were supposed to do.

The leaders of every country had thought of all the ideas they could come up with just to find and defeat the source of the chaos. But the possible source of the end of the world was nowhere to be found. People continued dying simultaneously from one part of the world to the other. It was a continuous yet unpredictable process.

They thought that was all there is to it, but they thought wrong.

Indescribable beasts arised from the deepest part of the earth. They all looked different but all were horrifying, they have the sharpest fangs and the reddest round eyes anybody had ever seen. They began killing not just the humans but the animals as well. By this point, all of the people had lost the hope of surviving such apocalypse. Their weapons, strategies and inventions were no match for those beasts. They haven't even found the entity mentioned in the prophecy.

Right. The prophecy.

That was when the leaders remembered the prophecy that was told by a little girl from a small town's shrine. With her being the clue, they began asking her about more of the prophecy. Even though the girl was scared by all the men in dark robe, she still answered the questions asked by them.

From the interrogation, they found out that the only person who could help them was the almighty creator. And there was only one process to do it: pray and ask for his help and forgiveness.

Most of the more powerful rulers did not believe the little girl. Instead she was thrown in prison for saying such lies to all of them.

However, one of those leaders believed the little girl. She was the leader of those least developing countries. She didn't know what pushed her to believe the little girl but she just felt that she had to believe her.

And so she prayed and ask for help and forgiveness from their creator. And that night, she dreamt of a dream where she talked to the greatest being believed to have lived on Earth once. The son of their creator himself has talked to her. He ordered her to prepare the materials needed to summon the creator's greatest knights whose abilities can be compared to the Gods and Goddesses living in heaven.

When the next morning came, the leader instantly ordered her servants to prepare the ceremony to summon whom she believed will be their savior from the apocalypse they were all facing. The first order was to gather the materials needed to summon the creator's first heavenly knight, the gentle and well-disciplined archer who guards the deepest parts of the Atlantis. The dark blue knight of the sea, Suzuko Mimori.

It took three straight days before the first knight suddenly appeared right in front of the leader, right after she and everyone else completed the first ritual. And she didn't regret anything. After seeing the knight, she knew instantly that she is truly a part of their creator. Even though she was expecting some buffy and tough looking man, she never expected the knight to be a well-sculptured woman in an archer's attire.

The summoning was not a waste of scarce resources since on her first wave of arrows, Mimori-sama had shown tremendous power and instantly obliterated those horrifying beasts. Every lane her arrow passes through would burn those monsters leaving a trail of ashes.

This garnered the attention of all the other countries. They too had tried to pray to their creator. But no one was blessed enough to be visited in their dreams during the night. They had all decided to give all the help each of them could offer in order to strengthen the blue knight and save their world.

The blue knight continued obliterating those beasts but they were still there, lessening in a slow pace. The archer began negotiating with the leader who had brought her to Earth, whom she had referred to as her priestess. She had asked the girl to have all the men in the entire world trained under her supervision to be able to attack and defend themselves from those beasts.

Since then, people were able to secure their families, their friends from those beasts. A new light of hope was brought upon the world.

However, the entity seemed to have learnt of this development and did not like the current situation.

Ten years had passed when a new crisis was bestowed upon them. The leaders of the other countries began attacking their neighboring countries for ownership and expansion of their territories. Resources were wasted and thousands of innocent lives were ended all for this reasoning.

The blue knight grew worried of the current situation but she knew she couldn't do anything about it since the woman who summoned her does not possess enough political power to convince those countries to stop killing themselves. Mimori-sama could only hope that a new knight would come help them. She just knew that this was the dark entity's doing.

The dark entity had somehow influenced the minds of those leaders to make them greedy, wanting more power, more people.

They just hoped that the priestess of the next knight in line would have the power to stop the war.

A week after, a princess from a royal family leading one of the most powerful countries in the world had introduced the second knight. Mimori-sama recognized the new knight as her used-to-be companion in serving their creator. The greatest mage to have ever existed in their realm. The white magician who had guarded the skies, Yoshino Nanjolno.

Mimori-sama instantly knew that the problem at hand would be solved in an instant. After all, Nanjolno-san is charismatic and wise enough to rule over the lands of the Gods. The war stopped and new agreements and rules were made for a better relationship among countries.

Peace was attained once more on Earth.

One night, both knights dreamt the same dream. They were visited by the dark entity in their dream. They were warned that the next and final wave of chaos is something which will wipe more than half, if not all, of the Earth's population. And there was nothing the two knights could do to prevent it from happening.

The dream had worried the two knights. Since then, they have been training harder which lead to them worrying their priestesses. But they assured them that it was to prepare for the final wave of chaos to land on Earth.

However, they were once again visited by the dark entity and they were told that their training won't be enough to stop the final wave from happening. This troubled the knights more and they decided to finally seek their creator's help. They bid their farewell and instantly disappeared.

Years had passed but nothing that was related to the chaos they faced had occurred. TheEarth had developed well and everyone had lived in harmony. The humans learned to cope with each other and even helped each other just how the blue and white knight had taught them.

The knights were greatly missed by the humans. A statue of them made from the best materials were sculptured as a gift for their return. Their respective priestesses were also loved by the humans because they had acted as their navigators during the chaos.

However, the blue sky suddenly turned gray when an inexplainable event happened one day.

It was the celebration of Mimori-sama's priestess since it was her 30th birthday. It was an event open even to the public. During the speech of the priesstess, one unknown guest walked just in front of the crowd and brought down a gift for her.

"This is a gift from me and my father. I apologize that he couldn't come to greet you personally because of his old age. I hope you like it, Uchida-sama"

The priestess accepted the gift with a warm smile offered to the guest. She was asked to open it after it was handed to her by her servant. However, the moment she opened the box, was also the moment that her knight appeared running towards her. Mouthing something she could not comprehend.

But it was all too late. A dark fog was released from the box and engulf the priestess. Soon after, the knight was shaking an unconscious and pale Uchida-san. That was not the end of it though. The fog increased as if blending with the air around them and then everyone else that was there fainted from what they deduced to be poison.

The crowd panicked causing rauckus everywhere. The blue knight instantly tried to search for the guest who gave the present but she instantly disappeared from the crowd.

This made the knight angry but she had to do her duty first. Teleporting to where her partner was, she carried the unconscious priestess. Mimori-sama soon met with Nanjolno-san but the mage's priestess was nowhere to be seen.

"They took her..."

The angry voice of the mage brought fear to Mimori's body. She had never seen her companion angered. Aina-san must have taken a special place in the white knight's heart.

They continued their search for the other girl after settling Uchida-san in a more secured place. A search was done for a week but no trace was found. Soon, the white knight had lost hope of ever finding her priestess.

"Nanjolno-san, we were asked to meet with the creator"

"Can't it be just you? I-I still need to find her"

"I understand how you are feeling but we have our own duty to him. Even I want to stay by her side but I have to do this. WE have to do this. This meeting might even help us"

"I understand"

Meeting their creator that time was what they did instead of searching for the lost priestess. They were introduced to the possible key of curing the poison that was mixed in with the dark fog covering almost half of the Earth. It was a key to the most forbidden room in their creator's home.

They first hesitated to open the door since they heard rumors that an uncontrollable entity was sealed there. The pure-blooded knight that was once controlled by their creator's rival to kill their creator. The knight who lived among the stars. The knight crafted from flames. The red knight, Pile-sama.

After they had acquired the sleeping knight of fire, the three heavenly knights were finally completed. They had returned to Earth to clean it from the poison the dark entity had spread.

Soon, the Earth was saved and the enemh was captured. Not much details were found out regarding the entity aside from a tattoo found on its left arm. And no news were gathered about the missing priestess of the white knight.

* * *

"Huh? That was it?"

The current occupant of the library in the palace continued flipping through the pages of the book. Briskly searching for the words red knight and things related to this name. After having read what felt like to be three pages or more, the dark-haired maid reached the last page of a chapter which she thought would give her an idea of who the red knight was. But it seemed that this knight's profile is very well hidden by the palace.

"Impossible... all I got from this chapter was a very brief introduction of what? Three pages? And a sketch of what the three knights might look like"

Giving up when she found that the references were not even indicated, aside from the author who had already passed away, Nico shut the thick history book closed. Researching was never her kind of thing but what she had acidentally heard earlier just kept on nagging her curiousity out. And just when she finally decided to read those thick and boring history books, she was not even able to find what she was looking for.

"Just who is this red knight? And what does she want with the princess?..."

Nico began to think hard. Earlier when she overheard the conversation among the three occupants of the king's study room, she was surprised to hear the name Pile-sama. For her the name felt so familiar yet sounded so foreign. It was like she knew her but never met her. She even knew that this red knight is a girl even before she could read the book.

"Nico-chan, what are you doing here?"

"It's rare to see Nico-chan reading books, nya"

Hearing the voice of the two girls who Nico had befriended on her first day in the palace, she no longer bothered to act in her maid mode. She had trusted these two enough to even show them her real personality, the snarky and quite narcissist girl.

"Well, it's rare to see you two not together, Rin, Hanayo"

Nico gave them one of her forced smiles as a greeting and also a way of showing them that the orange-haired knight somehow irritated her with Rin's previous statement. The royal gardener could only smile faintly as the shade of red invaded her cheeks. If only Hanayo would have looked at Rin, she will be able to see the knight's surprised and flustered look. Rin looked like she was about to faint.

Nico huffed, these two were so obvious how could they still not notice each other's feelings? The maid swore she had instantly felt their gay aura even outside of the palace. Okay, she might be exaggerating there but even Honoka, the dense and thick headed chef had already known about these two. Well, it's not like their love problem has anything to do with her so she will leave them be. For now, at least.

"Anyways, I just gotten interested on this red knight and tried to read anything about her. Unfortunately, there were close to none available books here"

The red eyed idol wannabe said while waiting for the two girls to settle on the chairs in front of her. But she gave a confused look towards Rin's direction when the knight somehow slid off her chair, even before she could sit on it. The knight simply laughed it off.

"The red knight... aside from what we learn from history in middle school, I haven't read anything legit about her. Only rumors"

"Rumors?"

The statement of Hanayo had somehow gotten Nico's attention.

"We all know the three legendary knights who saved the world from the greatest darkness, right?"

"Y-yeah. What of it?"

Learning that the story of the three knights was actually quite popular made Nico feel insecured to have a younger girl more intelligent than her.

"You see, even in school they only have a detailed history on the first two knights"

"Mimori-sama and the white mage, right?"

"Mhmm. Those two were summoned by two priestesses, you see. However, the red knight was different. It was told that she was sealed and released by the two knights that is why she does not have a priestess"

Nico's eyes widened at that realization. Now that she think about it, Pile-sama was not summoned but was released from a sealed room. But why?

"And that was where all of the stories where the red knight is included had ended. They no longer conveyed whether the red knight helped in saving the world right?"

Nico grew more and more interested in her conversation with Hanayo and almost forgot that Rin is actually there but just quiet.

"Yes. It was only told that the blue and the white knights were able to cure the poisonous air and capture the dark entity. Now, do you know what the rumors are telling?"

Hanayo's creepy smile as her eyeglasses twinkle in the shady library scared Nico just a tiny bit.

"Just tell me about it, Hanayo"

"G-gomen, Nico-chan. Well, there was a rumor that the red knight was actually the dark entity. Another rumor was that she sacrified herself to save the world and there was also a rumor which tells that she got controlled by the dark entity during their battle."

"What kind of rumors are those? Most speak ill of the knight who tried saving the world. And worst, they didn't even bother to add more information on this red knight. Seriously..."

Nico was so irritated after hearing those rumors. It was like the world only acknowledged the first two knights. It just does not feel right. It's like a situation in an idol group where one member, even though having worked hard just like the others, never became as famous as her groupmates and later on was left behind.

"Well, we can't blame them, right? I mean, look, even now after those hundred of years, the red knight is still lurking here in our world. She kept on manipulating the bodies of different girls."

"Manipulating?"

This news somehow no longer surprised the maid since she already saw the case of their princess.

"It was called the curse of the red knight if I remember it correctly. That's what I just learned from my grandfather, though. If you want more details you better ask a high ranking soldier or knight of the royal family. I believe they were the only ones told of the truth"

Nico stared at the book she picked out of the history section in the library. It was the only book which contained a part about the red knight. Almost all of the other books did not even mentioned the red knight aside from the title, The Three Knights. The book though looked much more older than the others, it was liked it was made just after the knights disappeared. The hand writing and crispness of the book gave it away.

Now that she remembers it well, she had actually learned of these knights in middle school but never focused on it since she was too overwhelmed on idols at that moment. For her, there are no knights and princesses, only idols.

"Why are you suddenly interested in the three knights, nya?"

Nico looked at Rin for awhile before giving an answer. Rin looked as if Nico was some kind of a criminal. The girl's eyes pierced through her own gaze. Nico was about to defend herself but fortunately remembered the warning of the king. She almost forgot that these two does not know the princess' situation. Not yet.

"N-nothing. I'm just interested, okay?!"

"Rin is just asking, nya. Why are you getting so worked up?"

"R-rin-chan, I think you shouldn't ask further..."

"Wait a second. You're a member of the royal knights, right?"

Nico finally understood why this cat-like girl kept quiet after she mentioned the knights. Maybe Rin actually knew something that was not allowed to be known by anyone else.

"I-indeed, nya!"

"Heh? Then will you tell me something you know about the red knight. You see, I'm really curious"

Nico is grinning evilly as she leaned on to the table staring the poor knight who was caught red-handed by the maid. Poor Hanayo does not even have any chance of saving her crush, she knew well just how persistent the raven haired girl could be.

"Then I suppose you know something about the red knight, right? After all, Niconii and,"

The maid dramatically reached for Hanayo's hand resting on the table.

"Sweet Kayochin really wanted to know the red knight better. I'm sure Rin wouldn't mind sharing even a tiny bit of information, ne? Rin-chan?"

Nico watched as Rin furrowed her brows deciding whether to trust them with such a classified information. Hanayo's palm felt cold and sweaty just from lying to her Rin-chan. This made Nico almost guilty. Just almost. When they noticed that the knight had been firm on her seat, Nico gave Hanayo's hand a tight squeeze as if telling the royal gardener to do something.

"R-Rin-chan!"

The knight quickly turned her head towards her crush at the squeaky and cute voice that called her name. Hanayo tightly grasp the cloth just above her chest and looked at Rin with her cute puppy eyes.

"Rin-chan! Onegai!"

Ahh. Who knew Hanayo had it in her? Nico felt so proud of herself at the improvement of Hanayo's acting skills. Even Rin gave up without any fight.

"Kayochin...that's unfair, nya!"

Nico and Hanayo giggled at the knight's flailing arms.

"Fine! Rin will tell the story of the curse of the red knight, nya! Mou!"

* * *

Before beginning her side of the story, the orange haired knight made sure that no one else would be able to hear them. She quickly locked the door of the library and turned her head almost everywhere just to make sure no one else was there. These actions though made the two other occupants jittery and nervous. It was the first time they saw Rin acting secretive and precautious.

"Alright, nya. Now that the place is clear, Rin will begin her story. Just promise Rin, you two won't tell it to anyone else, nya?"

"Ha~i"

"I understand, Rin-chan"

The knight began her story.

"The curse of the red knight is an issue that us royal knights are still investigating on. The curse was said to randomly appear on a girl who possess the three characteristics. They had to be intelligent, strong and possess some hidden skill, nya!"

The cat-like girl began moving her arms in a gesture which describes every characteristics. Nico and Hanayo found themselves dwelling more onto Rin's story.

"That was why Rin and the other knights always had a hard time searching for the red knight's next target... it was a tough job nya. It is also the reason why Rin had to leave the kingdom for weeks nya!"

"Oh, Rin-chan, you're so hard-working"

Hanayo unconsciously pets the knight's head which earned the gardener a purr from her. Nico finds the scene somewhat irritating. She does not know if it is because of what the two were doing or if it is because she wants to hear more of the story.

"Right. Back to Rin's story, the only way we could find the next target was to search their body for the cursed tattoo. The tattoo looked like three red stars placed on top of the other. It was so easy to find nya but so hard to draw"

That was one clue for Nico to look for once she returned to the clinic. Luckily, she was assigned by Mrs. Maria to be the personal maid of the princess, giving her easy access to the heavily guarded infirmary in the palace.

"W-what if they didn't show you the tattoo? Was there any other way to figure out the cursed one?"

"Hmm...well, I don't think they'll even try to hide from us nya. You see, a cursed person gets really weak and bleeds all over the place! I'm sure they would even search for us themselves nya! It's just the matter of how far they are from us that made the search difficult nya"

"B-bleed all over the place? Do they get extremely high fever and all sorts of sickness to the point they could no longer walk? I-I mean, you know, they look really frail and sick and"

"They do, Nico-chan. How did you know nya?"

Nico swore she could hear her heart beating so fast at the suspense of what she was about to ask. She completely ignored Rin's question.

"Did they die from the curse?"

Nico's question was left hanging for a short moment. Rin watched the maid's movements closer. She thought just how weird for Nico to know the symptoms of those who were cursed.

"Yes. The victims won't even last a month before the curse completely possess their body. Destroying it from within. That is why we wanted to search for them fast so that we could know what to do to help them. But we were always too late. It's either they are already dead when we found them or already possessed"

The girls remained silent inside of the library. Hanayo was silent at the horrible conclusion of the victims' story. They either die early or get possessed. On the other hand, Nico looked more like she was scared out of her wits.

"Umm... Rin-chan. What happens when the victims get possessed?"

"Kayochin, are you sure you wanted to know?"

Nico was suddenly pulled out of her shocked state when she comprehends Hanayo's question and Rin's reply.

"From my experience, those who were possessed that we encountered became very aggressive and scary. It was like they had totally lost their minds. They no longer cared what happens as long as they could kill everyone around them. Rin almost got killed one time nya! And Rin doesn't think she could kill another one of those innocent victims..."

"One thing Rin rememberes about those victims is they they always look for the sky nya!"

"The sky? Why do they do that?"

"We don't have any clue nya."

* * *

"W-what's going on?!"

After Rin had revealed the truth behind those who became victims of the curse, the NicoRinPana trio were kept in an oddly quiet atmosphere. No one knew what to say anymore because they think they had known enough. If they knew more they don't think they could handle more of it.

Unfortunately or fortunately, a loud banging on the library door made the three of them flinch from their seats as if waking them up from their traumatic experience. The maid quickly stood from her seat and opened the door. Her red irises dillate at the surprise of seeing the king himself. It would be the first time she'll directly interact with king Ryuki.

"Ryuki-sama, is there something you need?"

Nico had expected the king to be intimidating. After all, he is known to be one of the greatest leaders in the world. But no exact number of practices could have ever prepared the petite maid in facing the king himself. She would rather be teased by the prime minister.

"King Ryuki? What's wrong nya?"

The worried voice of Rin made the raven haired girl to turn her head behind. She saw Hanayo payjng her respects at the kjng's arrival and instantly followed ber example.

"Rin-chan..."

The three girls turned their gazes towards the man who is quietly standing in front of the library doors. When was the last time Nico had seen the king? Oh. It was three days ago inside the study room where she overheard their discussion regarding the red knight. Since then Nico figured the king had not been able to sleep or even take a bath. The middle aged man looked like he had just woken up from a slumber filled with nightmares. Dark circles were hanging under the king's eyes and his hair was no longer placed on its proper style.

However, what the three of them noticed most were the blood stains on the king's attire, the dripping blood on his left cheek and the bloodied sword on his right hand.

"R-ryuki-sama?! What happened?!"

The royal knight instantly walked towards the king almost pushing Nico hard. Her gloved hands reached for the taller man's shoulders making him calm down a bit. The king felt jittery. He's trembling.

"M-maki...she..."

"Maki-chan? Wha-"

Rin was stopped from saying more right after a flash of black passes through her and out of the library. They quickly realized that Nico has already left. The king watched the retreating back of the newly hired maid running towards the direction of tbe infirmary. He gritted his teeth feeling ashamed of being a coward during the time her daughter needed her the most.

"Rin. Bring your weapon and prepare yourself. You have a new mission."

At the sound of the word mission, the royal knight instinctively released her weapon from somewhere. A long golden spear appeared on her left gloved hand. A yellow cape appeared right on her shoulders and it look somewhat magical. It was kept locked on each of her shoulders by an emsemble bearing the insignia of the Nishikino family.

"Hoshizora Rin ready for mission."

Rin's voice sounded so firm and so determined. This was the first time Hanayo would witness her best friend and secret crush in her battle mode and the rice loving girl was so sure she had fallen even more.

"Follow me then, Rin-chan"

The king simply said and walked towards the direction Nico had headed to earlier. Hanayo stared at the knight endowed on her battle attire. Rin truly looked like a knight in shining armor, although knights in their time no longer wear those metallic plate armor but was replaced by a highly advanced cloth which could resist intense damage from magical or physical attacks.

"Kayochin, let's go."

Rin gave a warm smile towards Hanayo as the knight gently reached for the gardener's wrist, holding it firmly. The poor brunette could feel the steam puffing out of her cheeks at the sudden contact and she was left to a stuttering mess.

"Don't worry. Rin will protect Kayochin, no matter what nya~!"

The knight quickly followed the king as she lead Hanayo, who is still blushing, to their new mission.

* * *

Of all the things she had expected to see upon her arrival, Nico had not expected what she was currently witnessing. She had not expected to meet a long trail of blood along the hallway which leads to the infirmary. She had not expected the dead bodies of the palace guards lying on the floor, some of their body parts scattered everywhere, she made sure to not step on any. Nico quickly covered her mouth and nose with her left arm but the stench was so strong she could feel her insides bubbling from within. Nico wanted to vomit at the disgusting scene that welcomed her.

Her ruby eyes followed the trail of blood which lead to the darkened hallway of the infirmary. She could feel her body shaking from the fearful scene in front of her. A flash of cold runs along her spine and she knew she is scared, very scared at that moment. Her legs wanted to run back where she came from. She was about to do so but stop when she heard something.

She heard a rustle coming from the infirmary, her ruby gaze stared at the doors of the clinic and recognize a shadow of a figure walking towards her direction. The figure looked like its dragging something which is lying on the floor. The rustle continued and Nico squints her eyes to get a better look on the figure slowly approaching her.

And she easily recognized those strands of red hair and those gems of violet.

"I-it can't be..."

Nico stared at the figure walking slowly and lowered her gaze as to what the princess is dragging. Or rather who she is dragging. She could no longer recognize who it was since only tbe lower half of the poor victim was held by the princess. The maid uncontrollably hulls over, releasing all liquid from her stomach at the disgusting image.

Right now she really wanted to run away. Away from the girl who let her experience one of those crush at first sight moments but something made her stop from running, it felt as if her body had gone numb and the princess is already near her position.

"M-Maki-hime..."

The princess didn't say anything, she just kept on walking towards the maid's direction. Eventually she threw the lifeless remains she was holding to a corner as if it was nothing else but a part of a doll. Nico visibly cringed at what Maki did and the princess visibly grinned at her reaction. This seemed to have urge the princess in decreasing the distance between them.

"No..."

The dark haired maid wanted to move away but was still left stock on her place. She knew it was no longer because of her fear. On the corner of her eyes she saw a glimmer on the princess' left hand and realized it was some kind of weapon she must have used to kill all those soldiers.

Slowly, the redhaired princess raised the dagger she was holding and slowly licked the blood off of its sharp blade.

"A stained blade doesn't deserve to touch your pretty face..."

Even though she finds the husky voice of the princess very sexy, Nico tried to cover her ears as if trying to unheard a horrendous sound.

She can't die yet. Her family still needs her, her siblings still can't cook any decent meal and her mother will have a hard time tendig to her little brother and sisters. The trembling petite girl tried to move her legs once more but failed.

Suddenly the face of Nishikino Maki is already in front of her. She tried to shout but all that came out were her silent gasps. She decided to close her eyes not wanting to witness this scary side of the girl she had admired.

Then the freezing blade of the dagger is already laid on her left cheek.

She waited for the blade to wound her. She waited for the pain and the upcoming evil laughter expected for this kind of familiar scene. But nothing occured.

*Clang!*

She heard the dagger fell onto the ground. Curious, Nico opened her eyes and stared at the slowly retrieving figure of the princess. She continued watching on as the girl suddenly fell on her knees and stared at Nico like the girl was a ghost. A ghost from the past.

"S-sora...? Y-you can't be..."

"Huh...?"

The maid quickly picked up the fallen weapon just to secure her safety then slowly walked towards the fallen princess. She had totally forgotten the stench surrounding them and cringed her nose as it hit her senses once again. But this didn't stop her from approaching the girl on the ground.

"Nico-chan! Don't move nya!"

The sudden appearance of Rin and the others behind her relieved Nico. She stop walking and turned around only to see the shocked look on the three newcomers' faces. It looked like that was how she looked earlier.

The knight was quick to move to protect the maid. Rin kept her stern gaze on her childhood friend. On their way towards the infirmary, Rin was told of what had happened to the princess, the reason why the royal trials was cancelled and the current situation on hand. At first she did not believed what the king had told her about Maki killing soldiers with a deadly weapon but the moment she roamed her eyes, she regretted never having been able to prepare for such revelation. Her friend Maki couldn't even hurt a fly but now she could kill.

She could kill just like those victims they had encountered before.

"Grr..."

Nico and Rin turned at the growling sound of the princess. Maki took an offensive pose right after Rin separated her with the maid. Rin couldn't imagine having to fight the princess. She doesn't know if she'll be able to control her attacks or not.

"Graah! Stay away from her!"

The knight's eyes looked surprised yet worried at her friend. Maki is totally out of herself and is being possessed by Pile-sama. She just wonder why Maki is being possessive on the new maid. After all, Maki had not even properly met Nico.

"Maki-chan, calm down nya! Don't let it possess you!"

"Shut up! I said stay away from her!"

This time Maki did a swift gesture on the air and five fire balls appeared out of nowhere. Rin gulped at that unexpected ability of her friend.

"Pile-sama! Please stop! You're the red knight! You're supposed to be saving people not hurting them!"

The king figured that Maki was not the one they are talking to and tried calming the red knight instead.

"You shut up! Everyone shut up! Red knight this Red knight that! You people don't understand a thing!"

Maki gestured for the fire balls to attack Rin, luckily the knight was fast enough to dodge all of them and block them with her spear. Rin still couldn't attack though. In the next turn, if she didn't attack then Maki would definitely reach Nico.

"Maki-chan, wake-up! This isn't like you!"

Rin smirked. That was Hanayo and she was shouting, something that no one expected from the shy girl.

"Rin will attack you, Maki-chan! Prepare for Rin's spear nya!"

"Sure! Come at me!"

Rin began slashing and piercing but Maki easily dodged them all. She didn't even have any weapon but she could still hurt the knight with those fireballs of her. Rin is already having a hard time continuing her attacks since it was being blocked rather aggressively, eating away her energy quickly. If Rin could only use her special skills to her friend but she know she can't and she won't.

"Are you done now? Then its my turn!"

One swift motion and the red-haired princess disappeared from Rin's sight. The next thing Rin knew was the painful and sharp sensation behind her neck and the shout of Nico and Hanayo before she fell on the ground.

"Well, that was a little entertaining. But I have much more important things to do."

Maki turned her gaze to Nico who flinched at the intensity of those purple irises. The fire balls floating on her side disappeared and she began walking towards the petite girl.

"Sora-chan, we can finally have our disturbed meeting, ne?"

Nico felt disgusted. Somehow, the sweet smile on her crush' face seemed unfriendly yet caring. But still, the fear of being killed for the enjoyment of the red knight still scared Nico. Luckily, the king was there. He knocked her daughter unconscious and onto the ground.

"That ought to keep her quiet for a while."

* * *

"R-rin? Hanayo? F-father?"

The calm and usual tone of the princess' voice gathered the attentions of the other figures on the hallway. Nico realized that the princess' purple eyes no longer looked dull and dark. It had the same shine it did when she first saw her at the palace gates. Rin and Hanayo were on their guard even though they very much wanted to embrace Maki. They knew how hard it has been for their poor friend.

Then Maki stared at her hands, at the dead bodies around them and at the blood on the floor.

"W-what's going on?"

The princess stood from the ground and slowly turned to see more of the horrifying scene. Ryuki, with the other three, quickly approached Maki. But Nico seemed hesitant since she had a traumatic experience just a minute ago. She threw the dagger away just to make sure the princess won't reach it.

"Maki..."

The king was almost about to embrace her exhausted daughter however, Maki suddenly remembered what she did. She remembered how earlier she heard a voice and the next thing she did was reached for the dagger lying on the table near her.

"I... I did this... I..."

"No! You were possessed. You didn't know what you're doing. Maki-"

Ryuki tried reassuring her daughter but Maki clearly remembered everything. She clearly remembered how Satou-san and the other royal guards begged for their lives to be spared. She remembered how they tried to run for their lives, how they failed to escape in time and the sounds of their moans and cries as she slowly ripped them with the dagger.

She clearly remembered killing them mercilessly and how nice it felt.

"You..."

The princess suddenly walked towards the maid whom she recognized as someone she knew but at the same time didn't. Nico jerked when Maki looked at her. Once again with those violet eyes. But the look was more of concern than the intention to kill.

"Nico-chan?"

"Nico-chan nya?"

Hanayo and Rin had a confused look as they watch their redhaired friend approaching the maid. Maki looked like she eagerly wanted to embrace Nico with the way she had her arms stretched out for her.

Nico didn't know what was happening but simply stood there waiting for the princess to reach her. However, the surprised looks on the others faces somehow irked her. What's wrong with the girl wanting an embrace.

When the young girl finally reached her, Nico was quick to give the girl the hug she was craving for. But of course, she kept her cool and looked as if the physical contact with her crush was no big deal.

"Sora-chan... I missed you..."

"Huuuhhhh?"

Nico didn't know whether to be happy or sad at the development in her relationship with the girl on her arms. It seemed like the girl is still possessed by the red knight but she is calmer now unlike earlier. Suddenly, the prime minister and the doctor appeared behind the princess.

Tojou-san was holding a paper with some kind of weird drawing and quickly attached it at the back of the princess.

"Gaah!"

Still on her arms, the princess cried in pain simply because of the paper. The king looked at Kuroki-san to know what was going on while Nico kept on keeping the flailing princess in place.

"It's a seal to temporarily disable the curse. But it's only temporary. We don't know when it will be destroyed but before that happens we need to give the red knight what she had wanted"

"What do you mean?"

"No more time to chat, we'll tell you everything after the ritual. Just follow us"

Kuroki revealed while the doctor and Rin helped carry the sleeping princess away from Nico. They carried her towards the laboratory of Minami-sansei.

"I need to know what's going on, Kuroki. Or I won't let you touch my daughter!"

"Who said we have to touch her. This is just a summoning ritual something that the red knight had never experienced. We'll give her what she had always wanted"

"Huh?"

"Oh! I get it nya! Just like how the two priestesses summoned the first two knights, right?"

Rin quickly caught up on the intentions of the older woman and the doctor. They were about to reach the laboratory when the king suddenly asked something.

"But who'll be summoning her? We don't have anyone like those priestesses."

"What are you talking about? We have someone like that, am I right, Minami-kun?"

"Yes. I've never thought I would be seeing her here though. It was really such a small world"

"Wait. Who are you two referring to?"

"Who else but the reincarnation of the red knight's lover, Tokui Sora a.k.a. Yazawa Nico"

At that moment, all eyes were on the clueless maid who had been quiet the entire time. Nico has been thinking where she had heard the name Pile before. And whether the princess would remember the intimate moment they had earlier. And the fact she was told that she had a pretty face by the redhaired girl just kept running in her mind.

Yes. She has been thinking very, very hard that she had not heard the conversation the others were having. She had not heard that there will be a ritual to properly summon the red knight. She had not heard that they finally figured out the story behind the curse. But the most important detail was the fact that she is actually the reincarnation of the red knight's lover, that she will have all control on the girl she had been attracted to.

"What is it?"

* * *

A/N: And done! Okay, next chapter will reveal more...and some NicoMaki goodness since Nico will finally be the boss of Maki. Huehuehue. See you then! Ohh! And more of Honoka and Tsubasa... I think. Read and Review!


	4. Chapter 4

A/N: I know it's been so long since i last updated this and I'm feeling guilty. Guilty enough that I'm already on the process of doing the next chapter. Hopefully, you guys would forgive with the NicoMaki goodness contained in this chapter! And to those who had reviewed, favorited and followed, THANK YOU! *insert thousands of hearts*

Very well, proceed to chapter four!

* * *

**Love Live Fantasies**

**Book One: The Red Knight**

**Chapter 04: Reversed Reactions**

* * *

"What is it?"

Nico has failed to hear what the others were conversing on while she was busy reminiscing the romantic bits of her scary encounter with the princess earlier. But she was pulled away from her daydream when she clearly heard her name being included in their conversation. The maid was not sure what it was all about but she swore she heard the words sora, red knight and priestesses.

"Oh, we were just talking about how you could have your way with Maki-sama after this ritual, Yazawa-san"

"Have my way...?"

Nico repeated the reply of the prime minister in her head not really getting the meaning behind it. After all, it was still hard for her to believe whatever the purple-haired woman is saying since she has been teased a lot by Kuroki. However, the bullied maid did a double take when realization finally dawned upon her. The skeptical look upon her face surprised the others who in turn stared at her.

"H-have m-my way? Y-you mean in THAT way?"

"Mmhmm. In THAT way, Yazawa-san"

Nico could not stop herself from blushing at the images that invaded her mind. She could have her way with the beautiful and elegant girl. She could have Maki treat her to luxurious restaurants around Valhalla Zap, or maybe ask her to buy those expensive signature bags and those branded clothes that her favorite idol wore and endorsed. And maybe have Maki treat her as a princess as well.

"Aherm... just to be clear, a priestess signifies selflessness, innocence and honesty. I hope you are not thinking of indecent things, Yazawa-san or the ritual might not work at all."

"O-of course! Niconii is the purest maid in the entire world!" _And soon will be the purest super idol as well. Kukuku~_

Nico was instantly drawn towards her dream world once again as she imagined herself having all possible control over the soon-to-be most powerful and influential person of Valhalla Zap. Her unconscious snickering and the evil glint in her eyes scared Rin and worried Hanayo and they both thought that for some reason they have to watch over Nico and Maki once the ritual was done.

Once they have arrived at the laboratory, they were greeted by Honoka who had already prepared everything for the ritual. A group of five soldiers and three maids were there and they all looked exhausted for having collected the materials needed in just a short span of time. They were all ordered by Honoka and was granted a taste of her new dish once everything turned out successful.

"Ohh! Good job, Honoka dear. Now all we need is to prepare the main characters involved"

"Hai, Okaa-san! Umm... will the maids help dress Nico-chan for the ritual? Then... umm... I want you soldiers to carry Maki-chan in front and lay her over the stone table"

"Hai! General Kousaka!"

With the swift movement of her right arm, the soldiers and the maids quickly moved to do what was ordered to them by the blue-eyed girl. Honoka turned towards the confused newcomers, namely Rin, Hanayo and Nico. While the king sighed and the prime minister giggled at the development in front of her.

"When did you become a general, Honoka-chan nya!? And you look so cool too!"

"Nyahaha. Just now, Rin-chan! Okaa-san assigned me to act as one since the previous general...well... you know... got killed. But it's just temporary until we find another"

At Honoka's last statement, Rin and the others became silent. They were still all surprised that Maki killed all those soldiers. The Maki they knew couldn't even hurt a fly but because of the curse she was able to kill not just one but more or less a dozen. They couldn't even tell the right number of killed soldiers.

"Let's not go there. Right now we only have one priority and that is to properly call for the spirit of the red knight. The doctor and I believed that the cause for the continuous case of the curse was because the spirit of Pile-sama didn't successfully returned to our creator and was left wandering the human world."

"It's just one of the many theories that the doctor had made though. But for now, we have to control this spirit to save the princess"

Kuroki pause shifting her gaze towards the corner of the laboratory where Nico was currently treated by the maids. The raven-haired girl is now wearing a one-piece sleeveless white dress looking as if she was a Goddess herself with the way her dark hair flows like a sea of evening starless sky having been freed from those pair of red ribbons.

"And there's only one key for us to be able to call the spirit."

"W-we'll have Nico-chan call for it, right?"

"Yes, Hanayo. We don't know if this was coincidental or a work of fate but Yazawa Nico possess all the properties described as to be Pile-sama's lover"

"How did you know that nya? Rin didn't read anything about the red knight having a lover as well as a priestess. Rin clearly remembered that the red knight came from the sealed room of the creator's home nya"

The doctor began explaining while watching over the soldiers making sure that the princess was properly positioned on the stone table. He fixed his eyeglasses then faced the others again.

"When I was a kid, my grandfather gave me a book that belonged to our ancestors. He told me to do what is right with the book."

"At first, I don't know what to do with it since it looked like some kind of a fairy tale book for children and well I just don't like those books. Anyway, after having read it, I realized that it was a book written by my ancestors during the darkest era. There, I read the existence of the three knights sent by the creator and their stay here on Earth."

"I read that the red knight had a lover during her stay here. Her name's Tokui sora. She bore shiny raven-shaded tresses tied up in twin-tails and the oddest color of red eyes."

The others seemed to have their mind working at the doctor's description, whether they'll believe it or not. After all, in their time, having dark hair and red eyes is just a common occurence. The doctor could have had mistaken Nico for someone else.

"How could you be so sure that the knight's lover is really that maid?"

Minami-sensei stood still as he watched the king looking fidgety on his current position. It seemed like Ryuki would faint from all the things that had happened ever since her daughter's arrival.

"Gut feeling? I don't know. The moment I saw that maid, I just know that it's her. Also, you have witnessed earlier how the possessed princess acted in front of Yazawa-san"

"Maki really liked clinging to her. She almost jumped just to embrace that girl. Yet, according to Rin and Hanayo, they barely knew each other."

With that conclusion said, the doctor walked towards his study table in the laboratory. There he picked up a paper where the spell to be recited by Nico is written.

To tell the truth, Minami-sensei had not really thought of Nico being the reincarnation of the red knight's lover. But from the way the princess acted earlier he just knew that she is the right person. The only person who could summon the red knight's spirit.

_Only Yazawa Nico could be the priestess of Maki-sama._

* * *

Meanwhile, outside on the palace grounds, a group of knights was assigned to clean the mess left behind outside and inside of the infirmary. They were composed of the top five knights meticulously chosen by the king himself, with the exemption of Rin who is currently in the underground laboratory. These men were lead by the only heiress of the Kira family, Kira Tsubasa. The short-haired girl stood firm in front of the five well-known knights of Valhalla Zap.

"I'm sure you've heard the reason why we're sent here. Same business as usual so look carefully and inspect every corner. I want everything analyzed and reported by the time the sun rises."

All the knights present simply nodded their head as affirmation. They began moving towards the infirmary of the palace. Finding the dead bodies of their fellow warriors and servants of the king, they quietly prayed for their souls to return to their creator. They inspected every corner of the hallway and every corner of the infirmary, reminding themselves to check them twice.

But they found nothing, save for the blood-stained blade of a dagger.

Tsubasa and her troop were on their way to leave the area when they heard a screeching sound coming from below. They all stop walking and waited for anything that could follow. The air suddenly grew tense as the temperature around them skyrocketed. It was like they were standing just above a volcano's crater which is about to erupt.

They tried to run for it but was surprised to realize that the pull of gravity was too strong. They can't even lift their toenails. With their movements sluggish and extremely slow, the knights as well as Tsubasa decided to no longer fight gravity until it finally stopped.

"What was that?"

"It came from below, right?"

"Could it be the ritual they were doing?"

_The ritual...?_

Having remembered the ritual mentioned by Tojou-san earlier, Tsubasa turned her gaze below even though all she could see is the dirtied floor of the hallway. Closing her tired eyes, the noble woman silently hoped that everything was just fine. That everyone is fine and not hurt. Especially that certain someone she cared so much for.

* * *

During the process of the ritual everyone present kept quiet as the priestess of the red knight recited the spell of awakening. One by one, the weird carvings on the stone table glowed as if lighted by an invisible light. They followed the flow from Maki's bared feet until it reached the top of the princess' head. Nico too was enchanted by the glowing red light on the table but continued reciting.

The prime minister told her that she is not allowed to stop from reciting the long spell because during that time the two souls would travel until they meet each other. If she ever stop the recitation, the souls of the two women might end up lost forever.

But she still took some glimpse of the girl lying unconscious over the stone table. Somehow, Maki looked like she is being engulfed into another dimension by those red lights. The girl looked so alluring, tantalizing and Nico just can't help herself from staring too long.

Luckily she is nearing the end of the recitation, and felt glad that she still has not gagged on her words. Now, all they have to do is wait for the red-haired princess to react to their ritual.

"R-Rin-chan? Are you alright?"

The voice of a very worried Hanayo gathered the attentions of all the other occupants of the room, save for the knight who is staring straight in front where the princess is still lying unconscious on the table.

Her trembling figure, the widely dillated irises and the paling of her face grew concern on the others' behalf. They all wondered what could have had caused the knight's reaction. The gardener continued shaking her unmoving friend who seemed too traumatized to even speak. The others walked towards Rin, their concern growing even more when the straightforward knight took a couple of steps back.

"Rin-chan? Hey, what's wrong?"

Hanayo continued talking to the orangehead in hopes of waking her from her shocked state. But it was still in vain since Rin only took another step backward and this time with her right hand raised as if trying to push something away from her.

"Oi, Rin! Talk to us!"

Nico was also bothered by the way the knight was acting to the point where the maid even felt fear quelling up inside her. She was now standing beside Hanayo and also about to reach her hand out for the shoulder of the silent girl.

"Aaaaaahhhhhhhh!"

A loud scream suddenly came from the orange haired knight surprising everyone by the high pitched tone. The king and everyone else watched on as Rin knelt on the floor with half of her body touching the ground. It was like the knight is worshipping someone they couldn't see.

Ryuki followed the direction where Rin is bowing to and recognized the figure standing just beside of the still glowing stone table. The king was left speechless. The person right in front of them is no doubt her daughter. But the way Maki's eyes glowed with a flaming shade intimidated the king. He surrenderd to the urge of kneeling in front of the being they had successfully awakened.

This action caught the attentions of all the other occupants. They were all surprised to see Maki standing right in front of them.

"Maki-chan?"

"Maki-chan! You-"

Honoka who hurriedly ran towards Maki stop and silently knelt before the redhaired princess, her forehead visibly touching the cold floor.

"Why are they suddenly kneeling in front of the princess? Even the king"

Nico's voice instantly took Maki's attention and the redhaired girl slowly began to walk towards her direction. Nico felt like this had occurred earlier although this time, Maki no longer exudes that fearful aura. Instead, Nico felt something within her burning. She felt like this is what she has always been waiting for... but the feeling was gone even before it could bloom into something even more.

"Yazawa-san,"

The maid turned her head to look at the prime minister who is also kneeling on the floor.

"That person is Pile-sama and she had acknowledged the ritual of awakening"

"Huh? I still don't get it"

Before the prime minister could reply, Nico slightly flinched at the warm feeling of a hand touching her right cheek. And the moment she shifted her head she was once again captivated by the person in front of her.

"It means that I belong to you, my priestess"

The moment those luscious lips of the redhaired girl laid a kiss upon her forehead, Nico never saw the sun rising for that day.

* * *

_I don't know when or how it happened. I just found myself standing in the middle of what seemed like a small village in the mountains. Everything does not even resemble anything that would have come from Valhalla Zap. The place feels so old and calming. The smell of the grasses and the breeze of the mountain air drowned my senses, making me realize that this is no longer the world where I originally came from... but where exactly am I?_

_"Soramaruuuuuu~"_

_That voice. Without even realizing it, I had already turned around my body to meet a girl. She has very beautiful wavy brown hair and the prettiest eyes. Her smile too is very pretty. And for some reason, I know who she is._

_"P-Pile-sama? What are you doing here? Suzuko-sama would scold you if she found out"_

_Was that my voice? It sounded like mine but somehow they were empty words for me. _

_So this is Pile-sama, the red knight. The woman clad in a black tight sleeveless shirt soon stood right in front of me._

_At first glance no one would even know that she is one of the legendary knights from the dark era. The way she look just doesn't fit the image of a warrior who had slayed thousands of lives in a battle. Pile-sama looked like one of those idols I admire._

_"Well, Mimorin won't know if you won't tell her. My escape plan was so perfect!"_

_Watching her grinning like a kid in front of me really destroyed the image I had built up for the red knight that I had read in those history books. I was supposed to feel bad about it but just seeing her smile brought some form of happiness within me._

_The next thing I know was I am being pulled for a tight and loving embrace._

_"*sigh* I can't do that. Suzuko-sama is still my master since-"_

_"-h__er priestess is your leader blah blah. I know that already. I just want to spend some time with you. After all,"_

_The red knight twirled me around to face her. Our eyes locked onto each other and I saw a faint shade of pink dusting her cheeks. I barely noticed that someone is leaning towards the other._

_"Pai-chan...?"_

_"I love you, my priestess"_

* * *

"What was that dream? Why did I have that dream? Could it be because I am now the priestess of the red knight?"

The dark-haired girl currently found herself reminiscing the dream she just had earlier. She had just woken up from that same dream. The dream was so vivid, so clear like she was just watching a live play.

Her hand reached for her mouth and her fingers slowly glided over her lips. She could still feel the warmth and softness of the kiss that the red knight gave to her, to Sora-chan to be exact. And her heart beats faster with that thought in mind and butterflies are fluttering within her tummy. She realized that while Pile was busy kissing Sora, she had unconsciously imagined that she was kissing the red-haired princess.

"Maki-chan..."

"You called?"

Nico slowly turned her head to the right side of her bed meeting the face of the red-haired princess who had brought her all the trouble she had in the palace. Maki seemed to have been busy reading a very thick book while she was asleep. The princess' eyes were still glued to the book she is reading, not even bothering to have a glimpse of the already awaken maid.

This somehow irked Nico but the realization of having the princess there while she is asleep took the better of her. And even more when she realized that the princess is sitting on an old and very sturdy wooden chair inside her small, dusty room. She realized how stuffy it might have been for Maki and felt sorry for the girl who might be used to her grand room.

"W-what are you doing here?!"

The surprised maid quickly moved away from the red-haired girl who finally looked at her with a worried expression.

"W-wait, Nico-chan, don't move even further or you-"

_Thud!_

"-ll fall on the floor... _*sigh*_"

A tear fell from her eyes at the stinging pain on her butt which had inelegantly fell on the ground with a loud thump. She rubbed the pain away and caught the figure of the princess walking towards her direction.

And the next thing she knew, she is already being carried back to the bed by her secret crush. Nico silently blushed at the gesture of the red-haired princess.

"There you go..."

The maid was just about to say her thanks but stopped when she realized just how close her face is to Maki's. It was so close that she could feel the air coming off of the princess' slightly opened mouth. Her red gaze slowly trailed up and landed at those pair of lavender irises which are already waiting for Nico's attention.

Nico, for some unknown magnetic force, reached her arms out and wrapped them around the neck of the girl in front of her. She feels the soft red tresses of Maki and watched on as the princess watched her with a faint smile.

Everything at that moment just felt so right for the maid. It was as if everything has finally fallen onto their right places.

Nico wanted to kiss Maki that she was very sure of, but she doesn't know if Maki wants the same thing. Since all Maki is doing is smiling at Nico innocently, she didn't even embrace Nico back, her arms were left hanging on both of her sides.

Then Maki gently touched her forehead to the maid's. And a faint pinkish powder was visible on the princess' cheeks which made Nico blushed as well, or even more.

"Geez... you're really just like her even though hundreds of years had already passed..."

The smile sent her way resulted to the sweet yet agonizing clench on her heart. The poor maid can't help but feel nostalgic all of a sudden.

Now she finally understood the reason of having that dream. The soul of the real Sora must have sent her that dream to be able to remember the moments, the time and the feelings that Pile and Sora shared during the darkest era.

Nico wondered though, why she feels like she is doing something wrong...

Maybe it's because, unlike Maki, she had not recovered all of Tokui Sora's memories.

_KNOCK!_

_KNOCK!_

_KNOCK!_

The loud knocks on the door shook Nico off of her reverie. The maid is already on the process of opening the door when she removed her arms off of the princess but was stopped by the girl herself.

"You're still tired so I'll get it. Just rest here"

"O...okay..."

Nico does not quite understand but all these sweet attention and caring attitude towards her felt so strange yet so good for the maid. It was the first time someone, other than her family, had ever cared so much for her. The fuzzy feeling within her wanted to just confess her feelings for the princess right at that moment.

But love doesn't go that way easily. You just don't let your emotions take over you and your actions. Nico knew that she had to think over every action that she will do from now on, every decision must be deliberated many times but she'll still keep her heart and emotions intact.

After all, it is not every day that a mere maid like her would acquire the possession over something so precious, so rich and so mesmerizing like Maki.

Nico watched on as Maki's back disappeared from her view to talk to a soldier who had knocked on the door. She wondered what it could be about since she saw how much distaste was present on her beloved's face when she followed the soldier out of the room. Feeling lonely, the petite maid let herself fall onto the comfortable bed with a soft thud.

She was actually expecting for the usual smell of detergent and bleach when she decided to fall over the bed but the sweet and citrusy aroma surprised her. She then took a look at her bed and quickly noticed the purplish soft blanket that lies beneath her body, crinkled but very warm. Her hands began to pull the blanket over her, trying to cover as much of her body.

"I see that you're enjoying the princess' blanket, Yazawa-san"

The voice of the prime minister surprised Nico but not because of her sudden appearance but due to the fact that she was found to be sniffing and hogging the princess' blanket. _Wait, the princess'?!_

Nico tried to hide the warm feeling she felt when she realized just how caring Maki can be. She now wonders if this is her own act or influenced by the red knight's spirit.

"T-Tojou-san, is there something you need?"

The prime minister could not help but look at the maid with narrow eyes full of mischief. But she remembers the reason she decided to visit the raven-haired girl. She took the seat that was once occupied by Maki earlier.

"Ah...yes. Actually, it concerns your situation as the princess' partner, priestess Nico"

Nico's gaze passes through the woman in front of her. She finally remembered that she has another job aside from being a maid in the palace. She is now the red knight's priestess, reincarnation of the red knight's lover, Tokui Sora. She can't help but deflate at the additional burden placed upon her.

"I know what you're thinking, Yazawa-san. You think that this role would just be additional work for you and the like. And that is exactly the reason I am here. We are firing you from being a maid here in the palace."

"W-what!?"

"Calm down, Yazawa-san. It's not go-"

"Calm down?! I can't calm down, Tojou-san. I don't understand. Why am I being fired? I did my job and even became the priestess of a girl I don't even know! I-I can't lose this job..."

Nico pause, trying to regain her breathing and trying to refrain herself from shouting at the prime minister. Kuroki simply watched on in amusement as the maid before her recomposes herself. The woman might seem calm but Kuroki is somewhat surprised at the sudden outburst of Yazawa. She simply waited for what the maid has to say.

"I don't know what I did wrong but I can't lose this job, Tojou-san. I need the money to provide for my family. My mother is the only one working for all of us. Please..."

Nico looked at the older woman, tears already flowing from her eyes. She felt a hand softly patting her shoulder.

"Yazawa-san, before I say anything more, I want you to calm yourself first, okay?"

Nico firmly nodded.

"This is actually a request from the princess herself"

"Eh?"

"From the three days you were asleep, the princess was busy learning everything she could about you. When she found out that you were actually working for your family she figured out that doing palace chores and priestess roles would definitely drain you physically and mentally.

Maki-chan wants you out of your maid profession and focus on acting as her priestess. I don't know if that is mainly the reason or if there is any other ones but all I can say is that your payment for being a maid is doubled with additional benefits when you work for her as her priestess"

The purple-haired woman watched and waited for the maid to absorb every information she has given.

"So... basically, the princess is actually buying me just to be with her?"

"Well, if you put it that way then yes. Yes, she is. She must have really taken a liking to you if I must say so myself"

The visible smirk upon the prime minister's lips got the best of Nico's curiosity.

"What do you mean?"

"Well, Maki-chan stayed here all the time when you were asleep. She even slept here for the past few nights, which surprised everyone inside of the palace since that girl can't sleep unless she's placed over a bed. You are very special to her now, Ya-za-wa-san"

With that, the prime minister no longer waited for the maid's reply and simply left the room of a very red Yazawa Nico.

_I thought I was supposed to have my way with her? But why does it feel like she's the one having her way with me?!_

For the second time since waking up, Nico fell over the bed but this time being wrapped by the purplish blanket owned by the princess, along with it are the butterflies fluttering in her stomach, the sudden fast beating of her heart and the imprinted face of Nishikino Maki in her mind.

* * *

"What was that...?"

The princess now stood in front of her father with a shocked expression upon her face. She wanted to make sure that she had just heard the words spoken by her father right. Or maybe her senses are just playing with her.

The king tore his gaze from the magazine on his hands and let his gaze fell upon the annoyed figure of his heiress. He knew that this kind of talk would totally irritate her daughter who very much so hated the idea of meeting prospective life-time partners.

After all, Maki had just met her supposed-to-be lover.

"I know what you're thinking, Maki. Bu-"

"Exactly what I mean. Father, these 'meetings' are no longer needed. I had found my priestess and maybe even my life-time partner. It would be an insult to casually have dinner with someone other than her behind her back. I thought you of all people would have known that"

Maki exasperatingly explained while using air quotes to emphasize her argument. The princess huffed and crossed her arms on her chest to make it clear that she is so not liking the topic at hand.

His father has just interrupted her precious moment to discuss a very stupid topic. Not to even mention irrelevant.

If her father was surprise, Maki as well is overwhelmed at how loyal she is to her lover. She was someone known in Valhalla Zap for always attending meetings on time and on a perfect attendance. And attending this kind of 'meetings' is also a part of her what-to-do list even at a young age of twelve.

However, this time she found herself saying no with a determined and very serious expression.

"I'm not telling you to double-cross your priestess, Maki. All I'm saying is for you to attend these meetings since they were all arranged even before your return here in our palace."

King Ryuki has now stood away from his chair in hopes of physically voicing out his reason why her daughter has to attend those meetings. Seeing that her father is as stubborn as she can be, the red-haired princess sighed.

"Okay. I'll go but this will be the last time that I'll be attending this meet-ups. You have to cancel the others, father."

Maki paused at the sight of her very delighted patriarch. Even she understands the role of a royalty.

"So when is this meeting? and who am I supposed to meet?"

"Ohh...don't worry. The meeting is still a month from now. We'll be setting up a small dinner for the two of you in our garden. Hopefully, she'll love the sight of moonlit purple roses."

The king took slow strides while already imagining how things will turn out for Maki and her date next month.

"Ugh. Great, another girl. If that's all, may I take my leave now?"

"Of course, my dear daughter. Just make sure you take a bath before returning to Yazawa-san's room. I can smell you even from my throne earlier, sweetie."

"W-what? I-I-grrr! Whatever. I'm leaving!"

And at that the princess left the throne room making sure to slam the door playfully to make sure her father knows just how annoyed she is very early in the morning.

* * *

It was in the middle of the afternoon when the young maid decided to wake up and freshen up to formally greet the day after her long slumber, according to the prime minister. Donning on her maid uniform, Nico made her way towards the large dining hall. Along her way there, the maids she knew, some were good acquaintances while others were not, greeted her as if she was another member of the royal family.

This though did not irked her but boosted her ego even more.

So, instead of greeting back, the raven haired priestess ignored those maids who used to talk behind her back but sent an idol-like smile to those she deemed friendly.

"I can see that you're enjoying this new role, Nico-chan"

She stopped at the sound of a voice behind her but did not get the chance to turn around when a warm gentle hand found hers and intertwined their hands together. Ruby orbs shifted from their interlinked fingers towards the person who is too close to her liking.

"G-Good morning, Princess Maki"

Shocked at the cracked sound of her voice, Nico could only blush hard at her fault and watched as a lone red brow elegantly rise in amusement.

But a squeeze from their clasped hands brought Nico back into a more stable state.

"Hey, are you alright?"

"Yes. I'm fine just surprised is all"

"That's good. So, have you eaten lunch already?"

Another wave of redness invaded the maid's face at the realization of the embarrassment she had just said earlier.

_"It's already afternoon?! Ugh! But I just said morning. This is so embarrassing"_

The maid willed herself off of the heat creeping upon her face and was just about to answer the princess' question when her stomach decided to answer for her.

Nico can't remove her gaze at the beautiful sight of a lightly giggling red-head.

"I take it, you haven't. Well then, let's go. I asked the chef to prepare some strawberry shortcake for dessert, I hope you like them"

_Why is she smiling like that?How did she know I love strawberries? And why is she so kind? Is this even normal?!_

* * *

It seemed that even though Mrs. Maria had tried her best in filtering those indecent applicants from the interview, some were good enough to hide their true colors. This, Nico knew and just realized now once they had entered the long dining area.

At first glance she thought the unnecessary numerous maids there were present to aid the princess, however a prickling sensation appears just below her nape when she saw some of them eyeing the princess. Some were even bold enough to wink at the unsuspecting red-head. If Nico knew better, she would have thought that Maki actually likes the attention.

Nico then realized, she's mature enough to figure out emotional changes within her body, that the prickling sensation below her nape and the knot that had now formed within her stomach are all there brought by that irritating feeling of jealousy.

And she knew then and there that the lunch, their informal first date, would take a sour turn with all those maids who were too eager to have their hands on Maki. And wearing the same uniform as them doesn't make things easier on her part, especially when some of those maids are already glaring daggers behind her back.

Momentarily she was pulled from her deep, too deep for her liking, thinking when the warmth within her hand disappeared.

"Here's your seat, Nico-chan. I hope you don't mind sitting next to me? I-I mean, it's not like I want you beside me or anything."

And there it was. The cute but confusing tsundere side of the princess that Rin and Honoka had always told her about. Now that she is at the receiving end of it, Nico figured out that true to their word, the princess does look cute with those pinky cheeks, maybe being too shy to admit her love for the maid.

Nico was just about to open her mouth for some needed teasing towards the princess but froze at the sudden contact of soft lips on her left cheek.

"Sit with me, please"

At that moment, all maids and butlers present in the dining hall gasped at the unexpected boldness of their very shy heiress and if Nico has not been left dazed and already flying around cloud nine then she would have noticed the figure of a certain prime minister laughing as she passes through the open doors of the room.

Nico knew she had just gone to heaven.


	5. Chapter 5

**A/N: Well, hello there. Here is the fifth chapter of Book One. I want to thank you readers once more for all the reviews, follows, favorites. And a certain reader who kept on mentioning to continue my other stories. Well, buddy, I got some news for you at the end of this chapter.**

**Just a quick reminder, I don't own LL and their seiyuus. I own nothing. TT^TT**

* * *

**Love Live Fantasies:**

**Book One: The Red Knight**

**Chapter Five: Nico's Recipe and Tsubasa's Problem**

* * *

"Good morning, Koizumi-san"

At the sound of a familiar voice, Hanayo who was busy tending to the glass garden swiftly made a turn to find out who is it that has already woken up very early in the morning. When her purple orbs recognized the figure of the person who now stood a foot away from her, Hanayo was quick to stand and pay respect to the noble woman who was generous enough to acknowledge her presence.

"K-Kira-sama, good morning to you as well"

The royal gardener retained her gaze on the ground below her, finding it disrespectful to make eye contact towards the beautiful noble. But it seemed that the famous Kira Tsubasa had other plans.

"It's actually a beautiful morning even though the sun still has not risen. And it would be a shame if you won't be able to witness the sky as it accepts the shine of the beautiful morning. I wish you'd raise your head, Koizumi-san"

Hanayo could only stand there shocked at the statement of the noble woman in front of her. Slowly raising her head, the gardener found a lone piece of fresh sunflower reached out to her by the noble.

"T-thank you, Kira-sama"

As if the blush on her face was not enough, Tsubasa had to embarrass her further.

"Please, just Tsubasa is fine. I would like to know you better, Hanayo"

She tried to ignore the redness of her cheek and the sudden rise in temperature around them as Hanayo accepted the sunflower.

"Isn't it a bit too early for your visit in the palace, Tsubasa-sama?"

"Well, I have to meet the king around this time and I'll let the '-sama' part slide for now, Hanayo. I better get going then."

Tsubasa made sure to give one of her signature killer smiles before walking out of the glass garden. All the while Hanayo could only stutter out her farewell.

She watched the retrieving back of the noble woman. Kira Tsubasa. Aside from being the only heiress of the Kira family, Tsubasa is also a famous figure in Valhalla Zap. The charismatic brunette is also a model for a famous clothing line. There were rumors that she rejected an offer of becoming an idol to focus more on her duty as the right-hand woman of the royal family.

And to think that that Kira Tsubasa wants to know a mere gardener like her made things a bit overwhelming for Hanayo. Luckily, the cat-like knight she was very fond of was not there to witness their interaction. As much as Rin would deny being jealous over someone, Hanayo knew better.

And the royal gardener had a few encounters with a very jealous Rin. One of these encounters involved the red-haired heiress. It was just a casual conversation between two girls since Maki had offered to help around the garden since the boredom is killing her.

They were surrounded by the full-bloomed flowers in spring when the brunette accidentally let one pot fall on the ground. The girl panicked at her clumsiness right in front of the princess and instantly picked the pieces of the broken pot, forgetting that it may cut her skin.

Which it actually did. The princess was already on her knees inspecting Hanayo's bleeding finger. Then suddenly her finger is already between the lips of the princess. It was at that moment, where Hanayo was too caught up on her embarrassment and Maki was busy putting a band-aid on the injured finger, that Rin casually entered the garden.

"Kayo-chin, do you want to have lunch to-"

At the sound of Rin's voice, Hanayo and Maki looked up at Rin while the knight stared at them, wide-eyed.

"I-I-I didn't know that Maki-chan is here. I-I'll just a-asked Honoka-chan. Bye!"

The knight ran so fast that she quickly disappeared in the vicinity. The problem took a whole week, lots of explanation from Maki and Hanayo and a few bowls of ramen from Honoka before it was solved. Rin became clingier to her childhood friend and every time she's in the palace, she made sure to always be by the royal gardener's side unless there's an order for her to do something.

Hanayo didn't hate how the events turned out though since she was able to spend more time with her secret crush. The royal gardener only wondered why the princess kept on muttering "Idiot couple just won't make things official" and leave the two of them with a grumpy face.

"Oh, Rin-chan"

The gardener, after reminiscing the cuteness of the orange-haired royal knight, let a soft smile graze her lips and returned to her work. She only hopes that Tsubasa knowing her better would not bring unwanted signals to Rin.

* * *

The soft knock on his study room shook the royal majesty from his light slumber. These past few days, ever since her daughter acquired the red knight's spirit, King Ryuki always found himself sleeping and waking up on his study table. He stretched his arms out to ease the tensed muscles from sleeping in a bad position and yawned loudly to fully wake himself up.

Another knock on the other side of the door took his attention.

"Come in"

The king was still brushing off the remnants of sleep from his eyes when he recognized the person who, so early in the morning, visited him in his office.

"Good morning, King Ryuki"

"Ahh. It's just you, Tsubasa. I'm guessing everything has been sealed and cleared regarding the incident"

The noble woman, who had a straight look on her face once she had entered the study room of the king, handed over a microchip to the man sitting in front.

"Yes, the infirmary has been cleared and scheduled to be renovated tomorrow morning. The families of those who died in the incident were also informed of their losses and were given the proper compensation"

"I see. And the cause of death that you informed them?"

"Died during a battle. We made sure that no one, aside from the people directly involved that night, would know of the possession of the princess. The news of the princess acquiring the red knight's soul will never be reported to the public. All the weapons and equipment found were thrown and burnt to ashes"

"Great. I knew I could count on you, Tsubasa. I'm really glad to know that when I'm gone, Maki have you by her side"

The king and Tsubasa stared at each other for a while and smiled.

"Okay. Now that that is gone, how are things going for you and Honoka"

"W-wha-? I-I don't know what you're talking about, Ryuki-sama"

At the sudden mention of the ginger-haired chef, the usually cool and calm noble woman suddenly lost all her coolness. The king watched in amusement at the stuttering and blushing mess that was Tsubasa.

"Oh, don't be shy now. Almost everyone inside the palace know of your fondness for that girl. Even Kuroki finds it adorable"

Figuring out that the king would be a trusted friend in this topic, the noble took a seat beside the king's table.

"Am I really that obvious?"

Tsubasa waited for the king's reply and was greeted by Ryuki's wiggling brows.

"If staring for a good fifteen minutes falls under that category then yes, you are very obvious. Even Maki is already suspecting that you have something for her friend."

"Oh. Of course she'd know. I already told Maki about it since we went to the other side. I'm just surprised at how dense Honoka could be. I've been sending signals non-stop even before"

The brunette heaved a long sigh as she remembered how all of her attempts were either unconsciously blocked or unknowingly accepted.

"Don't worry, Tsubasa. Just keep on trying and pounding it inside her thick head. Who knows? Maybe one day she'll surprise you and confess to you first"

"Ha. Ha. Very funny Ryuki-sama. I highly doubt that. But, sure, I'll try for some more."

"Hohoho. Could this finally be you getting serious in a relationship? Well, just don't forget to invite this humble man to the wedding, okay?"

"Humble? Pfft! Yeah, right. That was one time! Only one time, Ryuki-sama and I don't plan to do it to Honoka, well if she'll finally notice my advances that is. Anyhow, I'm just glad that this incident with Maki is finally over since Honoka wanted my help for something."

The king simply nodded at the nineteen year old girl's first statement. He was also glad that finally all the bleeding has stop and the spirit of the red knight finally and silently settled within her daughter's body.

He remembered asking Kuroki of how two souls could occupy same body. The prime minister explained to him that there were only a few possibilities of such phenomenon happening successfully, either the two spirits merge or take turn from time to time. They both guessed that the former was Maki's case.

But such phenomenon is very dangerous and this is where the priestess comes in handy. A holy knight's spirit is connected to their priestess, who will work to balance the two spirits present within one body. The priestess will have all access to the physical and spiritual form of the holy knight. They'll know when a knight is hurt, weakening, lost or even nearing death.

That was why Prime Minister Kuroki had volunteered to teach Yazawa Nico all there is to learn of becoming a spiritual master.

The king returned to the conversation at hand when Tsubasa gasped at how long she had been telling stories about her encounters with Honoka, which the king had mentally apologized for not listening.

"Very well then, I wouldn't want to keep you from meeting your damsel in distress. Now stay out of my sight."

Without any other words, the brunette girl took strides out of the king's study room.

* * *

Tsubasa, at a very young age of five, began training and honing herself to be the perfect ally of the royal family. Her parents made sure that she would meet the expectations of the Nishikino's, just like how her father and ancestors did. She undertook physical training, studied hard the history and political aspect of the world, and taught of the proper etiquette expected from a noble like her.

That was why when she had the chance to meet the royal family personally for the first time, she was surprised at how they can easily be approached, especially the queen. Tsubasa met the princess, who was a year younger than her at that time, hiding behind the legs of the great king Ryuki.

The little red-haired Maki looked so vulnerable hiding behind her father. The two were then left outside near the palace' maze garden to play with themselves as their parents talk of their future.

However, Tsubasa was surprised when suddenly Maki reached out for her hand and led her towards the music room of the palace. She was left sitting over one of the couches inside the room as the little princess settled over a wooden stool in front of a smaller piano.

Before Tsubasa could say anything the next notes that created beautiful music had drowned her words and thoughts at the moment. She watched in fascination as a six year old Maki happily sing and played the musical instrument.

"She made it seem all too easy and enjoyable..."

Those were Tsubasa's thoughts after the little show the princess gave her. And the smile that she saw on that little girl's face is the smile she has to protect once she officially became Maki's right-hand man.

And so she did.

She took extra hours in all of her training, almost achieving the perfect body and attitude which had brought her the fame of being a well-known model. But she took the job since it was what Maki wanted.

"I'm sorry, but I can't accept your offer. I already have a job"

Those were Tsubasa's statement when one day a talent scout tried to hire her as their model. Maki, at that time was silently watching over their conversation. The currently thirteen year old princess walked up to them.

"She'll go. Just give her the details later on. We have a meeting to go to. Goodbye."

Those were the short and final words of the princess before they walked away from the scout and towards one of Maki's meetings. Tsubasa didn't know whether Maki knew about her obsession with fancy clothes or is simply too irritated to have a longer negotiation with the bald man.

She guessed that it was the former since Maki was never one to publicly shut down a person, royalty or not.

Ever since then Tsubasa focused on her training and modelling almost losing the time to be by Maki's side.

A decision she had overlooked and regretted.

It was just supposed to be a quick two-day one-night stay over on their neighboring country for a party Maki was invited to. Tsubasa was supposed to come with her but the modelling agency called for a last minute photoshoot for a Christmas special edition of their next issue. It was the issue where the entire profit from selling those magazines would be given to the orphanage in their country, which Tsubasa had always wanted to do.

She was about to decline if it was not for Maki urging her to go since she will have enough soldiers and knights with her during the trip.

Tsubasa simply thanked Maki and engulfed a red-faced princess in her embrace.

"Thanks, Maki! This is why I love being by your side!"

"L-Let go of me, you idiot! It's not like I did it for you! It was for the orphans, baka!"

That night they bid their farewells with happy and content smiles on their faces.

However, Tsubasa never imagined that the next time she meets Maki, it would be in a forest out of nowhere.

It was the afternoon that the entire palace was expecting for their princess' return. Things were supposed to go smoothly just like what was planned. By the time the sky had turned a shade of orange, they would hear the grumbling machines of the cars that escorted Maki.

They did not expect a bleeding Rin running towards the palace gates with a broken leg and huffing for dear life. She used her last breath to convey the ambush that had occurred on their way towards the palace then fainted at her last words.

Tsubasa, in her fourteen years of living, never felt so angered, so worried, so frustrated until that time. The only thing she remembered was seeing red flash through her sight then she was already running towards the forest that Rin had helpfully mentioned where they were ambushed.

She saw the injured soldiers, some barely able to breath, some no longer had the strength to beat their hearts.

With a painful look and apologetic frown, Tsubasa quickly asked where the princess was. It seemed that the assassin hired was no ordinary guy since he too possessed some kind of advanced weapon. The soldiers who were still able to talk informed Tsubasa that the royal knights were already after them and the princess.

She guessed that those soldiers did not know of Rin's sudden arrival in the palace, bleeding and all.

Without any other words, the brunette run towards the deeper part of the forest. It took her more or less half an hour until she heard shouting from her right. She followed the sound and recognized the twin royal knights, Sixth and Seventh, standing face to face with a tall and buffy man, who had in his hand a rare weapon.

On the man's other hand was the princess, unconscious and bruised.

The furious noble woman lost all her cool and calm at the sight of Maki, held by the man like a rag doll. The suspect, who was animatedly threatening Sixth and Seventh, something Tsubasa did not know since she no longer listened to the stupid guy's blabbering, got his tongue between his teeth, literally, at the sudden attack of Tsubasa.

With a very powerful push, the man stumbled backwards but still did not let go of Maki. Tsubasa got angrier at the sight of the grin on the man's face. He turned Maki towards him, saying stuff like how much Maki would cost when he sold her, or how satisfying Maki would be with her pretty face in the future.

All those disgusting claims from the man pulled all the strings to awaken the demon living inside of Tsubasa. All she saw at the last moment was little Maki's carefree smile shattering to pieces.

That night the man who dared kidnap Maki got his throat sliced and dug up, his torso cut open and his organs scattered around, left for the wild animals to feed on. No one really dared to talk about how the princess was saved that evening.

No one dared to remember how exactly the noble knight, leader of all knights and right-hand woman of the royal family, Kira Tsubasa killed mercilessly the man who easily defeated the others.

From then on Tsubasa made sure to never leave Maki's side, not until they reached the safeness of the palace.

* * *

When Tsubasa had stepped into the palace kitchen in search of a familiar orange brown head, she did not expect that one of their, their meaning her and Honoka due to their plan, targets would be there, standing guard for the kitchen doors. She stop just in front of the orange-haired knight and gave her a short and firm nod.

"Good morning, Tsubasa-chan nya!"

Try as she may, Rin could not keep up the formal act especially with her friendly leader. She gave a playful salute towards Tsubasa before stepping aside to let her in of the kitchen.

Tsubasa on the other hand paused for a while to have a small and casual talk with one of the royal knights.

"Good morning, Rin. Why are you here so early in the morning, standing guard as well?"

"Nico-chan wanted to make something for Maki-chan, nya~! But she doesn't have a clue of what Maki-chan wants and so asked for Honoka-chan's help, nya! They asked me to keep Maki-chan away from the kitchen since she's still a walking disaster in there"

The noble woman watched in wonder how Rin could have said all of those in just one breathing, taking note of how she could say her nya's like that. And then she remembered the red-haired princess who, try as she might, never learned how to cook or even keep the kitchen safe and clean.

"Ohh... I understand now. Well, it's still a little bit too early for Maki to be awake so I guess you could relax for a bit. Well then, see you later, Rin"

"See you later nya~!"

The knight gave another playful salute as she watched the noble woman entering the kitchen. Once she was sure that Tsubasa was gone from earshot, she let a mischievous Cheshire grin form on her face.

* * *

When Tsubasa entered the kitchen, she expected to see two busy girls busily cooking or baking something for the red-haired princess who has been busy sleeping in her room. And she did see them but not just as she had expected.

Sure, the girl she like is busy stirring a pot of something red over the stove while her companion, the newly-turned priestess is looking at a very familiar magazine. At least one of them is actually cooking, Tsubasa thought.

"Umm... Honoka?"

Tsubasa tried calling out softly for the chef since she doesn't want to surprise Honoka, who is so focused on stirring a pot of red fluid and accidentally boil her skin. She try the easy way but the brunette was too focused she didn't even stir from her place.

"Psst...Honoka~?"

The model tried once more but Nico was the one who noticed her, but the little priestess did not say anything and returned to reading the article on the magazine. However, a few seconds passed and the raven-haired girl quickly shot up from her seat and approached Tsubasa.

"Wait... you look familiar..."

Nico said while leaning closer to Tsubasa. Tsubasa watched in wonder of what the smaller one meant, that is until she saw the page of the magazine that Nico is reading earlier. It's one of those magazines that she had modeled for last month. It was a photograph of her while she was staying on the other side.

She fought the urge to crinkle her nose at the memory of how persistent the owner of the magazine to have her photoshoot in the eastern area of the world. They wanted their readers to see a newer style of the current Kira Tsubasa, or in Maki's words, they want them to stalk her even though she took a good three-year vacation from modelling.

The noble woman looked at the priestess as she leaned away from her and eyes her like some sort of critic.

"No way, you're Kira Tsubasa!"

The supposed-to-be lover of Maki shouted in all her glory just like how one of Tsubasa's fans would do when they saw her. The shout, as Tsubasa noticed, at least shook Honoka off of her master chef mode and turned to their location.

Tsubasa and Honoka silently exchanged happy smiles once their gazes sought each other, completely ignoring a fan-girling Nico. While Tsubasa kept her sight on the most beautiful girl in the world, Honoka turned her sight and watched on Nico wondering what was wrong with her friend.

It didn't take a minute or two until the chef recognized those twinkling eyes looking at Tsubasa. Honoka have had her enough share of people either swooning or eyeing Tsubasa hungrily. The truth is she can't actually blame them since Tsubasa is really admirable on the outside as well as on the inside.

"Well, good morning and nice meeting you too, Yazawa Nico. We finally had the chance to formally meet each other, huh?"

"Err...umm...well... g-good morning. Ho-Honoka!?"

Tsubasa laughed inwardly at the cute and speechless raven-haired girl. The noble woman no longer wondered why everyone easily accepted Nico as the princess' lover. Yazawa Nico possessed all attributes required to meet Maki's qualifications. Small, cute, petite, straight-forward and quite intimidating with her blood-red eyes.

"What is it, Nico-chan?"

Honoka, after being called by Nico, stared in wonder why she was called. The slight tilt of her head had Tsubasa inwardly swooning at how cute she looked at that moment.

"I-Is the sauce done yet? I-I think Kira-san needs something from you. I-I'll go finish that up"

The oldest in the room quickly pulled Honoka away from the stove, knowing full well that she won't leave until it is done up to its plating. She shoved Honoka towards a prepared Tsubasa and then returned to the stirring of the red sauce.

"There she is, Kira-san. Now, go enjoy yourselves-! Oops, I mean your talk"

"Ahh...yeah. Thanks, Maki's priestess"

As the two walked out of the kitchen Nico was all red from what the model called her. Ever since that day, she had been given the title of Maki's priestess and having a spiritual training in a daily basis while her secret crush do her princessly chores in the palace and around the country.

The priestess grinned to herself when she saw how nervous Tsubasa was when she had Honoka on her arms. Poor girl since Honoka got a thick and dense head that all of the attempts that she had witness from Tsubasa resulted to nothing.

"I guess I am lucky to be not on her shoes"

Nico shrugged and continued stirring until the sauce, Maki's favorite as Honoka had confirmed, is ready to be served.

* * *

The doors to princess Maki's room opened widely and loudly which jolted the princess out of her sleep. Sitting over her bed in wonder of who could dare wake her from her precious sleep, the red-haired girl silently glared daggers at the back of a very familiar brunette opening the curtains of her windows.

"How dare you wake me up like that? You do know that I am still a princess and that you are nothing, but my right-!"

**_*POOF!*_**

"Good morning to you too, Maki"

The red haired girl was silently fuming when she got cut off her sentence once a soft pillow hit her on the face, courtesy of Kira Tsubasa. Swiping one hand over her grouchy expression, Maki tried to return to her sleep. That is until Tsubasa had brought out her own weapon and softly poking Maki's back.

**_*Zap. Zap.*_**

"Kyaa!"

The sudden electrocution from Tsubasa's elemental stick got Maki jolted to a standing position on the floor. Fully woken from the electricity, purple orbs looked at the suspect with poison in her eyes.

"Come on, princess. Your training is about to start in an hour. Go take a bath and head to the dining hall. I'll be waiting on the training dome"

No longer affected by Maki's death glares, Tsubasa ordered the princess around as if it was the most normal thing to do. Maki no longer found it enjoyable and so she surrendered, reminding herself that she could just jump to bed after all the training for today.

She watched as Tsubasa moved towards her door, ready to leave only to stop and look at her once more.

"I suggest you hurry up since the meal for breakfast is quite enjoyable. I'm not very sure if Rin would be able to control herself."

"What do you mean? It's just breakfast, I can always ask the chef to cook another one for me"

"Ohh...well, this meal is prepared by none other than your priestess"

"Uueeh?"

Maki quickly got out of her stupor when she realized that Rin just might not be able to keep some for her.

"Tell Hanayo to control her woman! I deserve that meal and I'm getting it in five minutes!"

The princess shouted, which only happens when she is angry or frustrated or being her usual tsundere self but Maki shouting early in the morning amused the noble woman.

Maki tried shouting out of character and clumsily made her way towards the bathroom, almost tripping over the rag just to be very quick in cleaning herself.

"Ugh! I swear if Rin eats it all, I'll be the one to reveal her feelings to Hanayo!"

After washing her face and perfectly brushing her teeth, the princess panicking over losing breakfast scurried towards her closet, thinking that she will just grab whatever she could and hurry down towards the dining hall.

**_*Whack!*_**

"Grr... stupid wooden, heavy, antique door..."

Maki rubs the stinging pain on her forehead for a second then quickly reached out for a one-piece sleeveless dress, knowing it would be quicker to wear it in one go. She no longer cared to comb her hair and decided to just tie it in her usual low knot.

She finally run towards the dining hall, with an aching forehead, an annoyed face and quickly pacing feet.

All the while not noticing the trail of warm liquid from where she got hit earlier.

And the silently laughing noble woman who had seen everything from the slight crack of princess Maki's bedroom doors.

"Oh, this is precious. Who knew Maki would lose it all for one serving of spaghetti?"

* * *

While Honoka was busy transferring the spaghetti sauce Yazawa Nico style on each plate of well-cooked noodles, the origin of the new recipe was also busy serving a big plate of the pasta over the table, where Hanayo and Rin are currently seated along with the other royal knights who were free that morning.

The dark-haired girl took a seat in front of Rin making sure that she will be able to see the reaction of the cat girl as she takes in the first taste of her spaghetti. She would not want to serve a spaghetti that is not delicious enough for the girl she had made it for. The priestess wanted to surprise Maki but it felt more like she will be the one surprised as to how Maki would react to her own recipe of a spaghetti sauce.

Really, it was all on the spur of a moment.

The raven-haired girl woke up too early and decided to wander around the palace. Along the way, she stumbled upon the music room where a wide variety of musical instruments like piano, trumpet, euphonium and even guitars are neatly kept. She also noticed a photo album resting over the top of a piano, and being the mischief that she is Nico took a quick peak of the pictures there.

She realized that it was a photo album of Maki all throughout the years of her life. From the time she was born and held dearly by her mother, who looked like Maki in the next ten years, and the photos of the princess either smiling along with Honoka and Rin or scowling beside the shy figures of Hanayo and Rin. She flipped the pages over and over in a slow pace, almost memorizing every photos of the red-haired princess.

But the red-eyed girl was not expecting a torn picture would be kept on the last page of the photo album. The picture was not proper placed there. It seemed to her that the person who placed it there does not really want the picture to be there at all. She narrowed her eyes and neared her face to recognize what the photo could be about.

But try as she may, the only thing she could recognize was the faint shades of red, a dark shade of blue and a lighter shade of blue. Nico almost gave up understanding the photo when an absurd but brilliant idea entered her mind.

"Maybe I could touch some spiritual energy left on this. Heh, time to test all those training"

At first she thought it was stupid, weird even. However, the moment she laid her index finger over the photo and focus her spiritual energy, Nico was brought back to another flash of an old memory.

* * *

_"Happy birthday, Maki-chan nya!"_

_"Happy birthday, princess Maki"_

_"Congratulations, Maki-chan. I prepared a new set of dress for you, he he. I hope you like it"_

_"Happy birthday, Maki-hime. I wish you good health"_

_Nico watched on what seemed to be a ten year old Maki accepted gifts from everyone for her birthday. There were expensive clothes and bags and even jewelries. Nico was so envious of how well-off the princess has been, while all she got for her 10th birthday is a pair of bunny styled pajamas._

_She kept watching the scene and realized how forced Maki's smile was. Her lips pursed into a thin line would curve up to greet the next guest every now and then. _

_Nico felt somewhat worried of the princess' actions. She was about to step towards the girl when a figure passed by from behind and headed towards Maki._

_It's a girl with long dark blue tresses and an aura of elegance and strength._

_"Good evening, my dear cousin. I heard that Chef T prepared that special pasta of your mother's recipe. So... let's go sneak out some for us?"_

_Nico looked incredulously at the 'cousin' of the princess. One moment she looked so strict, straight-laced even then when she neared and leaned down to whisper to Maki, the girl exceeded mischief and playfulness._

_And Nico couldn't help but smile warmly as Maki excised herself from the guest presenting their gift and faced her cousin with a real smile._

_"Yeah. Let's go, Umi!"_

* * *

So now, there she is, seated eagerly in front of Rin who is obviously trying to kill her from the suspense on how she slowly twirled the fork in her hand. Then it was all inside her mouth.

"W-what?"

"Rin-chan...?"

Then, without even a minute passing by, Rin hungrily gobbled down the big plate of spaghetti. Nico knew she has to stop her but she was so amazed at how fast Rin was eating her spaghetti.

She only spoke when Rin finally placed her fork over her plate.

"That was delicious nya! I'm sure Maki-chan would love it! More please, Nico-chan nya~!"

"Well, at least I got what I want"

The priestess was just about to reach for the big plate to get another serving for Rin when the doors to the dining hall suddenly opened, surprising everyone.

"Where's. My. Break. Fast."

Maki, in all her haggard and hazardous glory, stood right in front of them, huffing and puffing for her much needed oxygen.

"Maki?"

"N-Nico-chan...?! Why...uhh...huh..."

"Maki-chan is finally here nya!"

"Rin-chan, slowdown"

The princess no longer cared if she unceremoniously just embarrassed herself in front of her priestess. Instead, she focused on locating that specially made breakfast.

Only to find a big empty plate.

With that familiar stain of red that she loves so much.

"Rin! You ate all of it?!"

Nico did not really remember what happened exactly after Maki's outburst. All she remembered was Maki dangerously pulling Rin by the collar and had her balled fist raised and ready to strike.

"Wait, Maki! Don't!"

"Gah! No, Maki-chan nya!"

Oh well, at least Nico found out how Maki hated to miss breakfast.

* * *

"Like what I have always taught ever since you were a kid is to always project elegance and proper posture. Wherever. And whenever. It also means to control your temper, Princess Maki"

The princess thought that her training for today would be with Tsubasa, but unfortunately, Maki got stocked with Mrs. Maria's training in being the perfect Nishikino heiress.

During the moment she had Rin on her clutch, the head maid came out from the kitchen doors, fainting at the scene of Maki readying herself for the murder of her childhood friend. Luckily, one of the knights were quick to catch the old maid. She stared in shock of knowing that not only her priestess was present in the dining hall but also the head maid.

"_What was going on very early in the morning anyway…? I usually have my breakfast with either Rin or Honoka."_

The princess simply looked past behind Mrs. Maria who is pacing around the room and slowly recites all what-to-do's and what-not-to-do's expected from a princess like her. She no longer listened to whatever Mrs. Maria is saying, knowing full well that she could recite them on her own.

Her eyes caught a glimpse of two figures outside of the window who were lingering around the outside of the palace. One of them is the prime minister who seemed to be staring at the other figure. The other, to which her gaze lingered on, looked like sleeping while seated under one of the trees outside.

"_Nico-chan…"_

She stared on, completely entranced, stunned even, by that beautiful creature meditating under the tree. And even if Mrs. Maria's loud and clear voice continues on reciting a mantra, Maki knows that all she could hear at that moment is the loud thumping in her chest.

The wonders of being in love. Hard.

"_I'll still get Rin for this! I wasn't even able to have a taste of Nico-chan's spaghetti!"_

* * *

It had taken the entire morning and afternoon for Mrs. Maria's lectures and exercises to end, making sure she was satisfied at the results of Maki's training. And when Maki had silently began her cat hunt once she left the vicinity of the old maid, she quickly searched for Rin. Although it seemed that the knight has been sent out with a mission by her father, something she found out from Hanayo.

"What am I supposed to do now?"

The princess idly wandered around the palace, looking for something to kill her boredom. She decided to head towards the music room to play her overly-missed piano. Having memorized by heart the path towards the music room, Maki was at the final turn for a corner when she bumped into another figure. And being too giddy to touch her piano again, the princess was not able to prepare herself for the fall.

Fortunately, or unfortunately, the person she bumped to is none other than the girl who had entranced her earlier.

"Ugh… my head…"

At the pained expression of the raven-haired woman, Maki was quick to move away from their quite intimate position and gently help Nico into a more comfortable one.

"M-Maki?!"

The rush of blood on her cheeks seemed all too familiar to Nico by now. She had figured out that no matter how much she try to not blush whenever she sees the princess would only give opposite results.

"I'm sorry. Here, let me help you up"

The princess reached out her hand to help the priestess to stand up. And the moment when Maki had that warm and small and soft hand on hers, Maki could not help herself from intertwining them together once she made sure that Nico is well on her own feet.

The two of them silently watched the other, all the while being comfortable knowing that they are once again connected.

"I'm sorry about that, Nico-chan. I didn't see you"

"Uhh… N-no! It's fine. I'm kind of in a hurry so maybe that's why I didn't see you as well"

"You're in a hurry?"

Nico flinched at the questioning gaze thrown her way by the princess. She doesn't know why but Maki's words made it seem like she's doubting something about Nico.

"Well, I have to meet my brother tonight at the docks."

Nico paused, she turned to look at the sky, almost losing its orange hue. It's getting dark and has to go and meet her friend now or she won't make it to the last boat ride for the day. However, she doesn't want to be rude to Maki, her known to be lover.

"Do you want me to go with you?"

"Huh?"

Nico, from those pondering, turned her gaze on the princess, still processing what she had just said. And when she turned the priestess was surprised to see Maki blushing and fidgeting on her position.

"That is only if you want me to…"

"Ohh… Nonono. No. I appreciate the offer but I told him that I'll be on my own. He is a bit shy having other company, you see"

The long pause before Maki's reply got Nico more nervous but it was quickly thrown out of the window when the princess sent her a warm smile.

"Okay. Just make sure to take care. And if you're still not here by dinner time, I'll send a rescue team to look for you"

The cheeky grin, which seemed totally out of character from Maki got Nico tongue-tied.

"_But this is how Pile-sama would react if she was the one present here"_

The raven-haired priestess remembered the familiar cheeky attitude of the red knight she met in her dreams and how exactly Maki resembled her at that moment.

She realized that Maki is worried for her not as a princess.

But as her lover.

"Or better yet!"

Then suddenly, Maki is already in front of her, an inch separating their noses and an arm already wrapped around her waist, bring their bodies closer.

"_Just like in that dream…"_

"I'll go and get you by myself, Nico-chan"

The idol-lover could only stare at those purple orbs owned by the princess, by her lover, as the warmness and fluffiness of everything around her completely drowned out everything that has nothing to do with one Nishikino Maki.

Once again her gaze fell on those pair of supple lips, inviting her to have a taste of them.

"_**W-what?! No!"**_

Nico quickly pulled herself away from Maki's embrace, from the sweet and guilt-inducing temptation that is the girl innocently looking at her in wonder.

"I-I-I'll be back early! So yeah! Gotta go bye!"

She no longer cared if she looked stupid when she ran away from the princess. She knew that if she stayed there even a second longer, Nico might just give in to temptation.

Left alone once again, the princess watched in amusement the retrieving figure of the girl she loves to the moon and back. Her feet turn around, once again doing their duty of bringing Maki to the music room.

The upward curving of her lips soon invaded her elegant features.

"Nico-chan is so shy. She's just like Pile's Sora"

* * *

A/N: Alrighty, I hope you like this chapter. And I need you guys to be patient since the upcoming chapters will be a filler chapter. Then we'll finally have the drama! Action! and maybe some tragedy...? so for now enjoy the light and fluffy chapters.

As for the reviewer who wants those NanoFate stories...rest assured, I will be continuing them but it might be later than sooner since I really wanted to focus on this story. That's all.

Ciao~


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